'Jamu' vendors to get free trips home

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Over 13,000 herbal medicine hawkers across the capital will benefit from a free mudik (return home) to their villages as part of a philanthropic tradition by a local herbal medicine company who this year will hire 220 buses for the purpose.

"Initially, this was a kind of incentive for herbal medicine hawkers to sell more of our products. But, later, we adopted this as part of our corporate social responsibility program," Irwan Hidayat, the president director of herbal medicine company Sido Muncul, said at City Hall.

He said that the program would also help alleviate the burden on the government in providing public transportation vehicles for holiday makers joining the exodus for Idul Fitri celebrations.

In Jakarta alone, there are over 2.1 million residents who every year celebrate the festivities in their home towns and villages. The flow of holiday makers usually peaks in the four days before Idul Fitri.

This year, Idul Fitri falls on Nov. 3 and Nov. 4.

Irwan said his company had records on all herbal medicine hawkers in the city and this list would determine those who would receive free tickets.

"Although this program does not cover all herbal medicine hawkers in the city, numbering about 16,000 people, we hope most hawkers can benefit from this program," he said.

"We will cooperate again with bus operator Hiba to provide the buses. Hiba has been helping us for the last 16 years to transport hawkers to their home towns," he said.

"The free mudik program will be centered at the Jakarta Fairground in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta. The program will staged in two rounds scheduled for Oct. 28 and Oct. 29," he added.

He said that the Minister of Transportation Hatta Radjasa and Governor Sutiyoso were scheduled to attend and officiate at the send-off.