Mudik Season: Pantura Route at Kali Sewo in Indramayu Flooded with Money Sweepers

The mudik (homecoming) season for Eid celebrations has returned this year. As the volume of vehicles on the roads increases, money sweepers have descended upon the Pantura highway in Indramayu, crowding the roadside.

Hundreds of residents carrying reed brooms were seen lined up along the Pantura route, specifically at Sewo Bridge, which marks the boundary between Subang and Indramayu in West Java, on Saturday, 14 March. They waited patiently for mudik travellers to throw coins or banknotes before recklessly scrambling into the middle of the highway. When motorists tossed money, these roadside sweepers attempted to collect it using the brooms they carried.

The sight of residents crowded together and sweeping the asphalt for money inevitably affects the comfort and flow of road users passing through. “It’s somewhat disruptive, disruptive,” said one mudik traveller, Adi, from Indramayu, West Java, on Saturday, 14 March, as reported by CNN Indonesia TV. “But that’s probably just their custom.”

The phenomenon of ad-hoc begging on the Pantura roadside is not merely a seasonal tradition but also a genuine threat to collective safety on the heavily congested mudik route. Given these high risks, many motorists have chosen to be more prudent and refrain from throwing coins from their vehicles. “Throwing money is indeed dangerous too, really. It’s dangerous for other drivers behind you,” said Adi.

Although warning signs prohibiting coin-throwing have been installed along the roadside for safety and multiple appeals and enforcement measures have been issued, this phenomenon appears to be an annual cycle that cannot be prevented. For the money sweepers themselves, the threat of being struck by vehicles is something they must ignore due to pressing economic hardship. “I am afraid, sir, but what can you do when you have nothing? It’s unavoidable,” said Samsiah, one of the money sweepers.