Exodus continue as Idul Fitri nears

Exodus continue as Idul Fitri nears

JAKARTA (JP): Thousands of people crowded around for hours at
the city's major terminals on Saturday because of the lack of
buses to transport them to their hometowns for the Idul Fitri
celebrations.

Even though the number of would be homegoing travelers at Pulo
Gadung and Kampung Rambutan bus terminals in East Jakarta was not
as big as in previous years, many of them were forced to wait for
as much as one whole day to get their buses.

Similar crowds could also be seen at the city's major railway
stations, where many people queued for tickets to their
hometowns, including Yogyakarta, Solo, Cirebon, Semarang,
Purwokerto, Madiun, Surabaya and Jember.

The people erupted with applause and whistles at Gambir
station whenever they were informed via microphones of the
availability of many empty seats on the trains.

A staffer of the Tri Mulya bus company at Kampung Rambutan
terminal, Tarjo, said that almost all buses came in late.

"Tri Mulya buses from Solo (Central Java), for example, were
scheduled to reach here at 6 a.m. but they only managed to get
here at 2 p.m.," he said.

Passengers in Pulogadung and Kampung Rambutan terminals
complained on Saturday over the many buses that picked up
passengers even before entering the terminals as this practice
caused those escorting children and carrying goods with them to
encounter difficulties in getting buses.

"I have waited here for seven hours but I still can't get a
bus because I can't compete with others who have brought less
stuff," said Tini in Pulogadung, while carrying her baby boy and
accompanying by her husband Sukidi.

Head of the Kampung Rambutan terminal Zaini said he could not
prevent buses from picking up passengers outside the terminal
complex. "That is usual because demand is high while the supply
is limited."

Data at the Kampung Rambutan terminal showed the number of
passengers reached 11,648 as of 2 p.m. On Friday the number
reached 30,146.

Head of the Jakarta Land Transportation Agency J.P. Sepang had
confirmed earlier that the number of buses prepared to transport
passengers during the current festive season reached 6,519, a
sharp drop from 7,801 last year.

Sepang said that the decision to reduce the number of buses
was made on the basis of an estimated 25-percent drop in the
number of travelers during the current annual exodus for the
festive season. He cited the economic crisis.

In previous years the mass departure usually saw more than one
third of Jakarta's 10 million residents leave the capital to
celebrate the Muslim holiday.

Railway stations

People were still arriving at Gambir train station in Central
Jakarta by 10:30 a.m. on Saturday with many of them lining up
from 5:30 a.m. to buy tickets to Yogyakarta and Solo.

Abdul Komaruddin of Pulogadung, East Jakarta, said that he was
sick of queuing up in the "unbearably long lines" at the
Pulogadung bus terminal over the past two days. He had returned
home with no tickets to Solo.

"So I thought why not try here? I've lined up here since 6:45
a.m.," Abdul said.

Zaenal Abidin, head of the Jakarta office of the state-owned
railway company Perumka, said a total of 77 trains, including
nine relief trains, were prepared for this holiday season.

Meanwhile, among about 100 people waiting in line at Senen
station on Saturday morning, a lady named Sumi from Tangerang
fainted due to heat exhaustion.

Sumi's husband Edy explained that they had been waiting for a
long time to buy tickets to Madiun when she fainted.

"She is just tired and needs a rest," he said, while lightly
caressing her forehead.

Perumka's data showed about 332,064 people had left the city
by train as of Friday.

Nationwide, this year's total exodus from various cities is
projected to reach 16.92 million people, as compared to 18.49
million last year, according to Minister of Communications Giri
Suseno Hadihardjono.

The ministry reported that it has deployed 408 passenger and
cargo ships, 93 aircraft, 93 ferries, 238 trains, and 21,300
intercity buses for the festive season.

Meanwhile, northbound travelers from Ujungpandang, the capital
of South Sulawesi, were stalled for hours on Saturday because
angry crowds closed all access to Pinrang city, 172 kilometers
north of Ujungpandang, which has for months been plagued by
unrest.

Hundreds of people "occupied" the bridge leading to the city,
and refused to allow anyone to enter. Dozens of members of the
Mobile Brigade kept watch; sources said they were considering
whether to move in and disperse the mob. However, as of 10 p.m.
local time, the standoff continued.

The incident was a spillover of the tension that started last
year when thousands of people cheated by a local cooperative went
on the rampage. The locals believed some government officials
were involved in the fraud.

In Yogyakarta, the head of Umbulharjo Bus Terminal, Pranyoto
Adi Wahyono, said the number of Idul Fitri travelers through the
terminal declined by 20 percent this year. On Friday, for
instance, there were less than 250 people disembarking here, or
18 percent lower than the previous year.

In Bandar Lampung, Lampung, drivers of public transportation
in Bakauheni have been given on-the-spot medical check-ups to
determine their health condition and to monitor their blood for
traces of alcohol, Antara reported on Saturday.

"They were examined at the Jasa Raharja mobile unit. The main
objective is to weed out unfit drivers who drive long distances.
This is part of our effort to minimize road accidents," said head
of the claims section of the state-owned insurance company PT
Jasa Raharja, H Iryani Aini.

Ideally, a driver should only drive for eight hours, a doctor
of the Lampung Police, Lt. Dadang Kurnia, added. "But many do not
have partners to replace them. This is what we are afraid of."

Meanwhile, National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Togar Sianipar
revealed Friday that police have shot 41 highway robbers and
arrested 362 others along the north Java coast as part of a drive
to safeguard travel for millions of people during Idul Fitri
celebrations.

"Twenty three of the 41 shot died of their wounds. They had to
be shot because they were resisting arrest," Togar said.

In Surabaya, East Java. the news agency reported that as of 10
a.m. Saturday some 36,000 passengers had left Purabaya bus
station on 660 buses and the peak of some 143,000 people was
expected as of midnight.

In Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara it was reported that 1,000
Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia had traveled to their
homes in Lombok.

"Some of them are coming here by plane through Selaparang
airport and some by ship through Lembar port," Sutanto, head of
the Ministry of Manpower office for West Nusa Tenggara, said.

The workers, mostly women -- coming down from the plane
attired in fancy clothes, expensive jewelry and thick make-up --
were from various villages such as Kampung Bakong, Kebonayu
village, Gerung district and Lombok Barat. (ylt/ind/edt/27/44)