Fewer people join 2001 Idul Fitri exodus
Fewer people join 2001 Idul Fitri exodus
Leo Wahyudi S. and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta
People had to struggle hard to get a ticket to celebrate Idul
Fitri at their hometowns. Many also had to suffer for hours in
traffic jams on their way home. But compared with last year, the
number of people who participated in this year's exodus
reportedly dropped by 50 percent.
Last year, about 2.3 million people left the city at Idul
Fitri. But this year, during the period from Dec. 9, or seven
days before the holidays, to Tuesday, the figure reached only 1.1
million, according to head of the City Transportation Agency
Rustam Effendy.
The number did not include those who went by private
transportation.
Meanwhile, people have started to return to the city, as
recorded at the Pulo Gadung bus terminal in East Jakarta. On
Monday, it recorded around 22,400 passenger arrivals on 470
buses. More were expected on the following day.
Effendy said that there was a sharp drop in people
participating in the annual exodus, probably because the school
holidays had started several weeks before Idul Fitri. "Many
parents took their children earlier to their hometowns," he said.
Jakarta's population at night is more than 8.3 million, but
during the day, workers from the city's buffer zones of
Tangerang, Bekasi and Depok bring the number up considerably to
11 million people.
A street vendor in Jatinegara, East Jakarta, told The Jakarta
Post that he did not celebrate Idul Fitri at his hometown in
Padang, West Sumatra. This was not only because he and his family
had done it last year, but also because he could not afford it.
"I didn't make much money this year, so we celebrated Idul
Fitri here," Soleh said.
Others delayed their departure to avoid the crowds.
However, one day after Idul Fitri, Senen railway station
surprisingly was packed with thousands of travelers lining up for
tickets, both on economy and business class trains.
More travelers are expected to depart from the station, as
computer data has revealed that seats for Dec. 19 to Dec. 23
departures for trains to Yogyakarta, Semarang and Surabaya have
been fully booked.
When asked the reason for going home after Idul Fitri, a
traveler to Surabaya said, "I thought departing after 'D-day'
would be less crowded, but in fact, there is still a crowd here."
On Sunday, or the first day of Idul Fitri, around 20,000
passengers embarked from the railway station and the following
day it was around 16,500, which indicated an increase of around
43 percent compared with last year.
State railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia put on business
class trains to depart from Senen. Previously the trains departed
from Gambir station.
Pulo Gadung, however, did not see many passengers leaving the
city. Only 12,100 travelers left, heading for various
destinations.