Palace Apologises Over Severe Traffic Congestion at Gilimanuk Port

Jakarta – The State Secretariat Minister (Mensesneg), Prasetyo Hadi, has spoken out regarding the long queues of vehicles attempting to cross through Gilimanuk Port, Bali.

Prasetyo, speaking on behalf of the government, offered an apology for the extended congestion.

“There have indeed been several incidents, and we apologise for the accumulation caused by quite extraordinary traffic at the Ketapang and Gilimanuk crossings,” Prasetyo told journalists on Tuesday, 17 March 2026.

Prasetyo explained that the government continues to monitor and conduct intensive evaluations to ease the severe congestion.

“However, we are continuously monitoring and field officers are working hard to find solutions to reduce congestion and queues,” he said.

Previously reported, Transport Minister (Menhub) Dudy Purwagandhi stated that passenger vehicles would be prioritised to cross from Gilimanuk Port to Ketapang Port to ease holiday traffic congestion.

He conveyed this whilst monitoring and coordinating across sectors regarding the situation of holiday travel flow at Gilimanuk Port, Jembrana Regency, Bali, on Tuesday.

“To clear queues quickly, in addition to increasing the fleet of ships operating in the Bali Strait, we are also prioritising passenger vehicles,” he said.

He stated that this policy was implemented given that such vehicles also carry large numbers of passengers and constitute the dominant category.

“For cargo vehicles, we will continue to service them, but passenger vehicles take priority first, whether motorcycles, private cars, or buses,” he said.

With this approach and increased ship capacity, according to him, the length of holiday travel queues heading to Gilimanuk Port has declined significantly.

He expressed hope that by the Nyepi holiday, all queued vehicles could be transported to Java Island.

If this is not achieved, he said, his team has prepared a solution to transport drivers to Ketapang Port for return to Gilimanuk once the Nyepi holiday concludes.

“We will provide free ship services and rest facilities at Ketapang Port. For their vehicles, they can be placed in parking areas at Gilimanuk,” he said.

When asked about the cause of vehicle queues heading to Gilimanuk Port that had reached more than 30 kilometres, according to him it was due to large trucks, particularly three-axle vehicles, still being in operation.