Hundreds of Trucks Trapped in Severe Traffic Jam at Bakauheni, Lampung
Severe traffic congestion has marked the Eid al-Fitr return flow in 2026 in the Bakauheni area, South Lampung. Hundreds of trucks transporting essential goods, fruits, and vegetables have been trapped in long queues lasting more than 10 hours.
The congestion began on Wednesday night (25/3) around 11:30 WIB and is concentrated on access routes to the alternative BBJ Muara Pilu Port and Sumur Makmur Abadi (SMA) Port. The queue of vehicles snakes along the East Cross Road (Jalintim) for more than 3 kilometres.
As a result, several vehicles carrying fruits and vegetables have started to experience spoilage. Drivers and goods owners expressed disappointment, anticipating losses estimated at hundreds of millions or even billions of rupiah.
Not only causing congestion, the traffic situation on Jalintim also became chaotic at times, with many vehicles forced to go against the flow in Sumur Village, further exacerbating the traffic conditions.
According to statements from drivers whose vehicles are held in the queue before crossing to Java Island, the congestion was triggered by a policy requiring all logistics trucks to undergo ticket scanning at the BBJ Port before being directed to the Sumur Makmur Abadi Port.
Hongki, a driver transporting fruit from Padang Pariaman, West Sumatra, to Jakarta, said he has been waiting to sail through the SMA Port since last night around 23:35 WIB until this morning (Thursday) at 10:30 WIB without departing, and there is no clarity.
The reason from the port authorities is that the barcode ticket has not been scanned at the SMA Port.
“If at the Wika Port they say barcode tickets cannot be scanned, the one that can is at the SMA Port. To cross, the reason is that the barcode ticket (physical ticket) must be scanned,” said Hongki when met by CNNIndonesia.com at the queue location on Thursday (26/3) afternoon.
He believes such policies should be improved to avoid losses for logistics transport drivers. Because the fruit being transported is spoiling. Reno, a fruit owner from Bengkulu who is sending his fruit to Jakarta, complained about the same issue.
“I’ve been queuing at the SMA Port since early Thursday at 00:30 WIB until this afternoon, and they say waiting for inspection,” he said.
The SMA Port authorities, he continued, asked drivers to queue until the ticket inspection is complete. But strangely, until now there is no certainty, so crossing cannot be done.
“If we don’t depart today, and the fruit to be sent doesn’t reach the destination, it’s certain to rot and the loss will reach Rp50 million,” he revealed.
Based on information received by CNNIndonesia.com at the location, the Wika Beton Port, which was previously prepared to help alleviate the density during the Eid return flow, was not optimally utilised from the start of the return flow.
The parking area, estimated to accommodate 200 to 300 trucks, was seen empty. The Wika Beton Port only began operating after traffic conditions on Jalintim became increasingly dense due to hundreds of vehicles held up and unable to sail at the SMA Port.
The long congestion and the stranding of hundreds of logistics trucks at the SMA Port could be resolved on Thursday (26/3) afternoon around 12:39 WIB after all vehicles were redirected to the Wika Beton Port with the operation of two additional ships.
Nevertheless, the KSOP Bakauheni has not provided an official statement regarding the exact cause of the congestion.
PT ASDP President Director Heru Widodo commented on the long vehicle congestion where logistics trucks were held for hours. Heru acknowledged that the Wika Beton Port was only activated today.
He said that regarding this matter, it is not our authority (ASDP), but rather the KSOP. But if we receive orders to prepare a fleet compatible there, we will go there.
“So that’s not our authority, and so far we have not received confirmation from the KSOP on how it is being handled,” he briefly stated.