City gears up for return of 3 million
City gears up for return of 3 million
JAKARTA (JP): The return of more than three million Idul Fitri
travelers to the city is expected to reach its peak this weekend.
The City Population Agency reported yesterday that 3,059,576
Jakartans left the city for their hometowns by bus, private car,
plane, train or ship between Feb. 2 and Feb. 8.
The head of the agency, Soemarto, said 1,675,920 people left
the city by private car, 835,449 by bus, 343,033 by train,
193,361 by plane and 11,813 by ship.
The agency estimated that the number of people returning to
the city will increase by 10 percent, or more than 300,000
people, as many Jakartans bring back relatives and friends
looking for jobs.
Governor Surjadi Soedirdja has indicated that most of the
newcomers to Jakarta will be unskilled people who will find it
hard to survive in the city.
However, the city administration has found it difficult to
curb the influx of newcomers, despite its continuous programs
which describe the harsh living conditions in Jakarta.
The city has been cooperating with a number of city
administrations in West, Central and East Java and South Sumatra
to prevent too great an influx of newcomers.
The agency reported that the number of people leaving the city
this year was lower than last year, when 3,234,975 people left
for their hometowns.
"The drop was caused by, among other things, the discount
offered by Perumka," Soemarto said, adding that the discount
motivated some people to leave the city earlier.
The spokesman for the state-run railway company Perumka,
Bambang Walujodjati, said people still preferred to travel by
bus, despite the discount and the additional train capacity.
"Perumka predicted that 41,000 people would leave the city
each day, but the data showed it was only 37,000," Bambang said.
He said the company had increased its capacity by 10 percent
this year. Last year, the capacity was 153,618.
Furthermore, he said the influx of passengers returning to the
city by train would occur this weekend. "Most people will
probably return to work Monday," Bambang said.
An official of the Ministry of Transportation, Imran Kartoko,
seconded his opinion, saying travelers will return by private
cars and buses this weekend.
The ministry organized a 24-hour post for traffic control
during the Idul Fitri season.
On Tuesday, the post recorded that 154,171 people returned to
the city by bus, train and private car.
In a bid to help people returning to Jakarta get buses easily,
32 buses from the state-run PPD firm will be on standby beginning
tonight at the Pulo Gadung intercity bus terminal in East
Jakarta, and will operate until Feb. 16. Another eight buses will
be added, if necessary.
The additional buses will transport people from Pulo Gadung to
Kalideres in West Jakarta, Kampung Rambutan in East Jakarta, Blok
M in South Jakarta, and Depok. (ste/11)