Idul Fitri, Xmas travelers begin to leave Jakarta
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
As the Idul Fitri and Christmas holidays draw near people have started to leave the capital to head back to their hometowns across the country.
The early travelers are usually those who travel by sea as they are going the longest distance. In the past few days, railway stations were also packed, both with passengers and those wanting to buy tickets. Intercity bus terminals here remained busy as usual.
The central government, as well as the city administration and police, have repeatedly vowed to do their best to serve holiday travelers, whose numbers are expected to reach at least 2.5 million.
But with limited public transportation available, most people planning to travel will need to make great efforts to obtain a ticket. Many of them have had to queue for hours or even spend the night at the ticket office.
Ticket scalpers have prevailed despite the pledge made by the authorities to crack down on them. They operate not only at railway stations and bus terminals, but also at the ticketing office of PT Pelni, the state-owned shipping company, on Jl. Kemayoran in Central Jakarta.
The Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI), which is conducting a survey on ferry ticket scalpers, has found strong indications of collusion between scalpers and ferry operators.
"Collusion has reached an alarming level," YLKI executive secretary Retno Widiastuti told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
The ongoing research showed that even though tickets were said to be sold out, they were actually still available -- at a price.
PT Pelni, which is notorious for its poor service, sells tickets through travel agencies.
The ticketing system lacks transparency and passengers are not able to view information on seating availability, Retno said.
The problem always worsens when the demand increases sharply during the holiday season. On Thursday, hundreds of people smashed the windows of PT Pelni's ticketing office, damaging three computers as well as three television sets.
Most of the people had been queuing for hours by the time the ticket counter opened at about 8:30 a.m. But in less than half an hour it was announced that all tickets had been sold out.
PT Pelni decided on Friday not to allow travel bureaus to sell tickets for the Idul Fitri season.
Antara news agency, however, reported that many scalpers still operated at the ticket office.
"Just look at them, they are free to roam around here while the security guards do nothing," said Simatupang, who was queuing to buy a ticket. He said that a ticket to Belawan, North Sumatra, was offered at Rp 272,000 or about 60 percent higher than the official price.
Scalpers are not the only ones who increase the ticket prices. Bus operators do the same.
The government allows an increase of 12 percent seven days before and after Idul Fitri, as the buses would likely return to the city with many vacant seats.
But bus operators had reportedly increased the prices up to 200 percent or even more.
The government is aware of the situation, but cannot do anything as there are no reports received from the victims, said J.A Barata, spokesman of the directorate general for land transportation, a division of the Ministry of Transportation.
In the major bus terminals in the city, in Pulo Gadung, East Jakarta; in Kampung Rambutan, South Jakarta; and in Kalideres, West Jakarta, nearly all the buses have violated the regulation.
Drivers claimed they violated the rule as they had illegal fees imposed on them by hoodlums that roam the bus terminals as well as the terminal offices. Usually bus drivers have to pay them Rp 500 per passenger, but as Idul Fitri draws near they are forced to pay Rp 2,000, according to Rahman, 45, who drives a bus from Jakarta to Surakarta (Central Java) and Surabaya (East Java).
The normal ticket price from Jakarta to Surakarta is Rp 21,000, but he now asked for Rp 35,000.