Firms' travel freebies speed up holiday exodus
JAKARTA (JP): With the monetary crisis hitting workers hard, some major companies have given employees free tickets back to their hometowns in West, Central and East Java to celebrate Idul Fitri.
PT Sido Muncul, a large herbal medicine company, hired 170 buses to send 12,000 of its employees to Cirebon, Kuningan, Banjarnegara, Wonogiri, Tegal and Solo yesterday.
They departed from the eastern parking lot of Senayan Plaza, Central Jakarta, at 9.30 a.m.
"This is the least we can do for our workers. Hopefully they will have a nice and comfortable trip and have a great Idul Fitri back home," an identified representative of the company said.
"And I hope when they come back to Jakarta, they will return feeling fresh."
Another firm, Rinso, a detergent company affiliated with PT Unilever Indonesia, transported 10,000 of its workers on hired buses from a temporary terminal at the National Monument (Monas) park about 8 a.m. yesterday.
On Saturday, 6,500 Indomie noodle sellers boarded 81 buses provided by PT Indofood Sukses Makmur. They left from Kemayoran, Central Jakarta.
Chris Iwan, head of the instant noodle division of PT Indofood, said it was the company's custom to give free rides to its workers for the annual holiday.
"We have been doing this since 1994," he said. "The total cost of our exodus program is about Rp 200 million (US$20,000)."
The number of people who left the city yesterday was estimated to be 130,000.
About 80,000 were expected to leave the city's main bus terminals of Kampung Rambutan and Pulogadung, in East Jakarta, Lebak Bulus, in South Jakarta, and Kali Deres, West Jakarta.
Another 50,000 holidaymakers were to leave the city on trains. As of 2 p.m. yesterday, a total of 47,727 people had joined the exodus at six major stations: Tanah Abang, Kota, Senen, Manggarai, Jatinegara and Gambir.
A temporary bus terminal near Mal Taman Anggrek in West Jakarta facilitated the exodus of another 11,000 people. The land transportation directorate general provided 160 buses.
Based on The Jakarta Post's observations of the main bus terminals and train stations, the passenger flow moved smoothly because most already had tickets.
At Gambir Railway Station, for instance, most people had bought their tickets a week earlier.
"The train exodus is more organized this year, compared to previous years," Santi, one of the passengers, said.
At Pulogadung Bus Terminal, in East Jakarta, 360 buses transported 18,632 passengers between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m.
During the same six-hour period at Kampung Rambutan Bus Terminal, also in East Jakarta, 311 buses departed from the terminal carrying a total of 13,684 passengers, a terminal employee said.
At Merak Port, cars were backed up for five kilometers due to a lack of coordination.
"We intended to give buses with holidaymakers and private vehicles a priority to enter the ships. But, because some trucks had already pushed their way into the lane, the flow become slower," an official of the national Idul Fitri post said.
The traffic congestion began easing at 6 p.m. yesterday.
The head of City Land Transportation Agency, JP Sepang, said there had been far fewer violations by bus owners this year.
Last year, there were 42 violations with action taken against 38, compared to only two breaches as of yesterday.
On Saturday, the city's main bus terminals and train stations were less crowded than local authorities had expected.
The national Idul Fitri post revealed that 70,000 travelers left on 803 buses from the major terminals as of 8 p.m. Saturday. Another 9,700 people departed from the five smaller terminals on 245 buses.
Authorities had expected 124,000 travelers on what was the sixth day before Idul Fitri.
At the city's six railway stations, only 25,000 people had departed by 8 p.m.
Railway
At Senen Railway Station, for instance, where the most economy-class seats were available, there were only 9,602 passengers recorded until 3 p.m. Saturday.
The figure was much lowered than the 11,544 passengers recorded during the same period last year.
Abdoel Hakim, head of the Pulogadung Intercity Bus Terminal, said the terminal was not as busy as he had expected.
"Although it is more crowded than ordinary days there are not as many people as the previous Idul Fitri."
Between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m., only 301 buses left the terminal with 9,934 passengers.
"My estimation is that the peak times will be tomorrow (Tuesday) and Wednesday," he said.
The reason for the drop in holidaymakers is not known but economists may say that the current monetary crisis is taking its toll.
But many travelers, most of whom are casual workers, denied that the state of the nation was keeping them at home during Idul Fitri.
Said Amrollah, 56, a cloth trader, said: "I don't mind spending almost Rp 150,000 for this trip as long as I'm safe and I'm able to see my family for Idul Fitri."
He boarded a bus to Madiun in East Java to see his wife and six children yesterday, bringing with him four bags full of souvenirs and dried biscuits for his family and relatives.
But spokesman for the Jakarta office of the state railway company (Perumka), Bambang Waluyo, was confident that there would be a 5 percent increase in train passengers this year. Last year, 204,480 people boarded trains to return home.
He said the smaller crowds at stations was because passengers had learned to reserve their tickets.
"So people only come to stations to depart, not to wait for hours just to get the ticket. Therefore, the flow of passengers is running smoothly," Bambang said.
The firm's director, Soemino Ekosaputro, said there would be a growing number of holidaymakers using trains because airline tickets were expensive.
"This year we have managed to provide more executive trains like Argo Bromo Anggrek. So, with lower prices (compared to airfares which increased in price recently), upper-class people can still enjoy comfort and prestige by using our trains," Soemino said.
At Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, 1,402 flights have been scheduled to transport an estimated 124,810 Idul Fitri travelers between Jan. 24 and Feb. 5, an airport official said Friday.
According to the official, Maladin, additional flights have been scheduled for the seven most popular destinations: Denpasar, Yogyakarta, Pontianak, Padang, Palembang, Surabaya, Ujungpandang and Padang.
"Some passengers already have their return tickets with them but we strongly suggest if they want to delay their flights, please let us know immediately so their seats can be allocated to other passengers," Maladin told Antara. (edt/emf/04)