Influx begins in earnest as crowds return to Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): The capital has begun to groan under a massive influx of people returning to the city after celebrating the Muslim Idul Fitri holiday with relatives at home in Java and Sumatra.

A sea of inbound travelers could be seen arriving at all intercity bus terminals and railway stations here on Friday.

Heavily laden private cars made their way along the Jakarta- Merak and Cikampek toll roads that connect Jakarta with destinations in Sumatra and Java respectively.

Ranap Sianturi from the toll road operator PT Jasa Marga said the number of vehicles entering the capital via the Cikampek toll road first showed a marked increase in the early hours of Friday.

"We have not yet completed Friday's figures, but it seems that the number of vehicles entering Jakarta via the toll roads is now slightly higher than the number leaving the capital," Ranap told The Jakarta Post on Thursday night.

On Thursday alone, Jasa Marga recorded 59,774 vehicles entering Jakarta through gates at Cikopo, Kaliurip and Pondok Gede Timur on the Cikampek toll road.

In comparison, 59,609 vehicles left the city on the same day, he added.

A total of 23,944 passengers arrived in Pulogadung intercity bus terminal in East Jakarta on Friday. Bus terminal authorities said that 556 buses arrived from cities in Java, Nusa Tenggara, Sumatra and Bali between 7:30 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Friday.

On Thursday, over 40,000 passengers arrived at the terminal in 889 buses.

Many of those arriving at the terminal on Friday walked around dragging huge suitcases behind them. What possessions they owned that were not packed into these cases were trussed up in colorful packages or bundled into old cardboard boxes tied up with string.

Similar sights could be seen in the city's other main bus terminals at Kampung Rambutan in East Jakarta, Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta and Kalideres in West Jakarta.

Thousands of Idul Fitri revelers also arrived home at Gambir station in Central Jakarta on Friday.

A spokesman for the state railway company Perumka, Zaenal Abidin, said he did not have figures for the number of inbound passengers arriving in the capital.

Together, toll road, bus terminal and railway station authorities expect the numbers of people returning home to peak on Saturday and Sunday. Over one third of Jakarta's 10 million population is thought to have left the capital in the run-up to the Idul Fitri holiday.

There were reports of limited numbers of people returning to the capital as early as Thursday.

Many people returning here by bus arrived in the middle of the night and were forced to wait at bus terminals until public transport began running in the early hours of the morning.

It remains unknown why the city authorities do not arrange special buses for low-income travelers arriving back in the capital at night during the festive season.

Only a few bus passengers could afford to take a taxi for the last leg of their journey home. (ylt/bsr)