Let the exodus begin

Damar Harsanto and Ahmat Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In the next few days, the capital city of Jakarta will soon be deserted. It will be unusually quiet. The streets will be free from traffic jams and the vendors who run their business off the road or even on the part of it will all gone.

At least 2.5 millions of people will leave the city to celebrate the Idul Fitri holidays next Sunday and Monday, in their hometowns, where they will have a big family reunion.

Jakarta is home to 8.4 million people - but during the day, with many from the city bufferzones of Tangerang, Bekasi and Depok working here, the number increases to about 10 million.

Governor Sutiyoso earlier said the city had prepared 6,813 buses, 66 trains and 31 ships to handle Idul Fitri holidaymakers.

The Transportation Ministry estimates that there will be more than 15.8 million people from eight provinces (Lampung, Banten, West Java, Jakarta, Central Java, Yogyakarta, East Java and Bali) who will return to their hometowns by public transportation.

The annual exodus started this weekend and will reach its peak on Thursday.

The tradition originated back in the 1970s, following the implementation of the capitalist economics that resulted in the development growth in some urban places and the migration from the other parts of the country, according to sociologists.

It is the time to share the success with their big family - the travelers will bring lots of stuffs for them, mostly things that are not available in their home towns or villages.

"I have not visited my parents in Yogyakarta for one year. I am quite busy with my work," Hadi, an employee of a private company, said in Senen railway station, Central Jakarta.

For him, Idul Fitri is the only time he could bring along his wife and three children to visit his home town.

The number of passengers in Senen station has started to slightly increse on Friday.

Some scalpers were still seen operating in the station. A passenger admitted to buy a ticket to Yogyakarta of Rp 75,000 from normal price of Rp 28,000 after he found out that all tickets to cities in Central Java until one day before the Idul Fitri were sold out on Saturday.

All tickets for executive class trains in the ticket counter on Jl. Djuanda, Central Jakarta, for the same period were sold out.

Badar Zaini, general manager of state railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) estimates that the peak season for Idul Fitri will falls from Thursday to Saturday. At that time, PT KAI expects to transport 197,802 people to cities across Java.

The company has prepared 240 trains to transport travelers.

According to Badar, 90 scalpers were nabbed this week, but were released after being detained for a day.

The police once claimed they could not be legally processed due to the lack of legal basis, but they later admitted that the scalpers could be punished under the city bylaw on public order nuisance.

Reports said that scalpers paid the police before they were released.

In bus terminals, the "job" of ticket touters was taken over by uniformed employees of bus operators, who forced would-be passengers to buy the tickets at much higher prices.

When The Jakarta Post arrived at Kampung Rambutan bus terminal in East Jakarta on Saturday afternoon, head of the terminal, Endi Lastion, was beating one of dozens of touters in his office.

"They have been warned not to offer the tickets forcibly, as such actions would tarnish the bus terminal's image," Endi said.

The government allowed bus operators to increase the fare by 12 percents from seven days before the Idul Fitri until seven days after the holidays.

Iman, who would travel to his hometown in Yogyakarta said he was asked by Ramayana bus operator to pay Rp 85,000 while the normal price was Rp 50,000. "The price will skyrocket to Rp 140,000 on three days before the festivities," he added.

The number of passengers in the terminal increased by 10 percent to 11,000 on Friday, compared to an average of 10,000 people daily.

Endi predicted the flux of passengers would increase until 28,000 people per day on three or four days before the Idul Fitri festivities.

There will be an addition of 100 buses to the current 600 buses at the terminal.

The Pulo Gadung bus terminal, East Jakarta, the Lebak Bulus terminal in South Jakarta did not record any significant increase of passengers on Saturday.

"May be, the increase will start tomorrow," Nadyassyam, the terminal head, said. (Fitri Wulandari contributed to this article)