Exodus gains momentum, but under control

Exodus gains momentum, but under control

JAKARTA (JP): The number of passengers leaving for their home
towns for Idul Fitri celebration from the Pulogadung bus
terminal, East Jakarta, and from Soekarno-Hatta International
airport rose significantly yesterday, but remains feasible.

"Regular buses were still adequate to transport them," said
the chief of the Pulogadung bus terminal, A. Hakim, yesterday.

"On Wednesday about 39,000 people departed from the bus
terminal and the number increased to 39,571 on Thursday.
Passengers arriving at the terminal numbered 14,251 on Wednesday
and rose to 18,446 on Thursday," he told reporters.

Yesterday the city administration launched a 16-day special
operation, code-named Operasi Lebaran 1995, with the aim of
providing public transport vehicles for Jakartans intending to
celebrate the Idul Fitri holiday in their home towns.

Under the operation the City Land Transportation Agency will
deploy over 7,000 buses, consisting of 6,462 regular buses and
1,050 additional buses.

Out of the 1,050 additional buses, 325 busses are from the
state-owned bus company, PPD, 225 from the state-owned bus
company, DAMRI, 300 from private city bus company, Mayasari
Bakti, 200 from the private Metro Mini company, 100 the Kopaja
company, 50 from the Bianglala company and 25 each from the
companies Arion, Mass Trans and Himpurna.

J.P. Sepang, head of the transport agency, said the city
administration predicted that over two million people would leave
the Jakarta using public transportation during the festival this
year.

Bus terminal weather shelters are unable to accommodate the
numbers involved, and many passengers have been forced to wait
outside.

"I don't understand why the bus I am taking hasn't arrived
yet. It was scheduled to arrive at one o'clock but now it's two
o'clock already," said Sunaryo, a construction worker hoping to
return, with members of his family, to his hometown in Solo,
Central Java.

A bus driver who had just entered the terminal told The
Jakarta Post that the delays were being caused mainly by a
traffic jam in Brebes, Central Java.

"There is bridge construction project there which is hindering
traffic. The problem is being made worse by trucks, which cannot
go fast because of their heavy loads," said Anton Lukman, the
driver of a bus plying the route between Jakarta and Pekalongan
and other cities in Central Java.

The number of people leaving the city by train has also
increased substantially since Tuesday. Soemino, director of the
state railway company, Perumka, said the rising number of
passengers were being attracted by discounts of between 10 to 15
percent, offered by the company to passengers who left the city
before Friday.

"The discounts were offered to help spread the number of
passengers, thereby reducing the usual explosion in the number of
passengers over the Idul Fitri holiday", Soemino said.

"Similar discounts will be offered to passengers who return to
Jakarta between March 13 and 18," he added.

Meanwhile, the Soekarno-Hatta Airport authority, PT Angkasa
Puri II, has reported that the number of passengers passing
through the airport has increased but remains feasible.

"The number is expected to jump tomorrow and on March 1," a
representative, Suparyati, was quoted by the Antara news agency
as saying yesterday. (yns)