National Police Chief Urges Personnel to Anticipate Hydrometeorological Disasters During Eid Holiday

Jakarta — National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo has called on police personnel to anticipate potential hydrometeorological disasters during the Eid holiday period in 2026. This directive was issued during the Operation Ketupat 2026 personnel assembly at Monas Crossing Field, Central Jakarta, on Thursday.

In his address, the Police Chief emphasised warnings from the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), which has predicted that weather conditions during the 2026 Eid exodus will be cloudy to heavily rainy. “Special vigilance is required against potential hydrometeorological disasters, particularly in southern Indonesian regions such as Java, Bali, and Nusa Tenggara,” he stated.

Consequently, he instructed all duty personnel to maintain full readiness to respond to potential natural disasters, requiring comprehensive disaster response team preparations, supporting facilities and infrastructure, and mitigation measures across pre-disaster, during-disaster, and post-disaster phases.

The Police Chief noted that the peak exodus is predicted to occur in two waves: 14–15 March and 18–19 March, whilst the return traffic is expected to peak on 24–25 March and 28–29 March. The government has implemented various traffic management measures during the 2026 Eid period, including freight restrictions, one-way systems, contraflow operations, odd-even vehicle schemes, maritime crossing regulations, and conversion of vehicle weighing stations into rest areas.

All personnel were reminded to perform their duties conscientiously to realise the campaign “Safe Journey, Happy Family”. The Police Chief underscored the importance of this operation, as the Eid holiday represents a significant economic stimulus opportunity through substantial monetary circulation and multiplier effects across regions.

Operation Ketupat 2026 will run for 13 days from 13–25 March, involving 161,243 combined personnel from the military and police. The National Police have established 2,746 posts comprising 1,624 security posts, 779 service posts, and 343 integrated posts. Security efforts will focus on 185,607 locations including mosques, Eid prayer sites, tourist attractions, shopping centres, terminals, ports, railway stations, and airports to provide information and services to travellers.