Safety of exodus guaranteed

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The police will deploy around 2,500 officers at bus terminals, railway stations, the airport and the seaport here to help smooth the flow of the annual exodus ahead of the Muslim Idul Fitri holiday next month, city police chief Insp. Gen. Sofjan Jacoeb said on Monday.

The additional personnel were needed to ensure the security of passengers who thronged exit points, heading for their hometowns to mark the festivities, a tradition known as mudik, Sofjan told reporters at city police headquarters.

Sofjan said the personnel, who would be drawn from those safeguarding embassies and the House of Representatives building, would back up the regular police based at police precincts and subprecincts.

It is estimated that about 1.2 million people will leave Jakarta for their hometowns to celebrate the Idul Fitri holiday.

The exodus has become a matter of increasing concern for the police as well as the city administration, given that many travelers fall prey to criminals and ticket scalpers.

The limited capacity of the transportation infrastructure to absorb the massive flow of holidaymakers, coupled with the limited number of police safeguarding the venues have, at times, been blamed as the root cause of poor conditions for would-be travelers.

Sofjan said the police would start to erect temporary posts 10 days ahead of the Idul Fitri peak travel days to maintain security at the places where most people would be concentrated.

He also promised the police would cooperate with the City Land Transportation Agency to reduce the number of would-be passengers stranded at intercity bus terminals, railway stations, the port and the airport.

Last year, around 5,000 people heading for Central Java and East Java were reportedly stranded at Gambir railway station, as they could not obtain tickets.