New Year's eve smoother than usual this year
New Year's eve smoother than usual this year
JAKARTA (JP): Despite three recreational parks recording more
visitors, New Year's eve celebrations ran smoother than usual
this year.
Heavy rain throughout the city between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. may
have caused many families to stay away from Ancol, Taman Mini and
Monas square New Year's celebrations.
In previous years, traffic was horrendous on New Year's eve as
revelers packed the three parks.
The number of trucks loaded with trumpet-blasting youngsters
screeching around Monas was down from other years.
Going up the 115-meter monument was the main attraction for
25,000 people who took turns at the top of the gold-tipped
monument to witness Jakarta at night.
Taman Mini in East Jakarta was relatively empty at 10 p.m. and
traffic around the area was smooth. The park featured the king of
dangdut (Indian-influenced music), Rhoma Irama.
The Taman Mini public relation office claimed that 110,000
people visited Taman Mini on Sunday, 20,000 more than last year.
With 90,000 visitors last year, Taman Mini was dreadfully crowded
and traffic heavily congested.
"Many visitors did not use private cars," Yanti, a staff
member of the park Public Relations office, offered as an
explanation yesterday.
At Ancol dreamland in North Jakarta, where traffic chaos has
been part of every New Year's eve celebration, things were quiet
on Sunday.
The park's management also claimed the number of visitors was
higher than last year. By 12 p.m. a total of 195,000 tickets were
sold, 55,000 more than last year.
"There is no traffic congestion because the elevated toll road
has functioned and visitors from the southern part of Jakarta can
go straight to Ancol without passing through Jl. Gunung Sahari or
Jl. RE Martadinata," Aruan, a director of PT Pembangunan Jaya
Ancol, said.
Governor Surjadi Soedirdja, City Military Commander Maj. Gen.
Wiranto, City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Dibyo Widodo and Deputy
Chairman of the City Council H.M. Djufrie made their annual year-
end journey to Taman Mini and Ancol.
Female dangdut singer Nur Halimah welcomed the officials at
the Taman Mini stage.
The governor warned Jakartans not to disrupt national unity.
The governor also thanked Jakartans for helping develop the
city and he reminded Jakartans to always take care of their
safety and secure their neighborhoods.
Then, as usual, Surjadi's and the other officials' wives sang
the traditional Maluku song, Ayo Mama.
The governor's entourage then proceeded to Ancol. Surjadi
Soedirdja marked the end of 1995 by blowing a paper trumpet on
stage at Ancol's Art Market.
Some 11,500 police officers were deployed to secure the
celebrations. There were only 26 crimes recorded during the
night.
City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Dibyo Widodo told a media
conference held at 5:00 a.m. yesterday morning that the only
serious incident was a fire at a shoe factory in Bekasi on Sunday
evening.
Several machines and hundreds of shoes ready for export were
destroyed at the factory owned by PT Emperor Footwear Indonesia,
an Indonesia-South Korea joint venture.
"We're still investigating the cause and the amount of loss,"
Dibyo said.
Another fire destroyed a furniture shop complex and 15 small
houses in Mampang, South Jakarta. There were no fatalities in the
fire, which started at 2:30 a.m. yesterday, but the supervising
police sergeant was hit by a fire engine. He is now in hospital
with serious injuries.
Festivities petered out between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. when
thousands of revelers headed for home. (yns/bsr/29)