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)