State Secretary Apologises for Long Queues of Migrants at Gilimanuk Port
State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi has spoken out regarding long queues of homebound travellers heading to Gilimanuk Port in Bali. On behalf of the government, Prasetyo Hadi (known as Pras) extended an apology for the accumulation of vehicles and pledged to conduct regular evaluations to address the situation.
“There were indeed several incidents, and we apologise sincerely. There was congestion due to quite extraordinary traffic at the Ketapang and Gilimanuk crossings,” said Pras at the office of the Ministry of Defence (Kemhan) in Central Jakarta on Tuesday (17 March 2026).
Pras emphasised that the government continues to conduct intensive monitoring and evaluation to reduce congestion. He stated that field personnel are also working hard to find solutions to reduce vehicle queues.
“We continue monitoring continuously and our personnel in the field are working hard to find solutions so we can reduce traffic jams and queues,” he said.
On the other hand, Pras expressed appreciation to the public who had arranged their travel times to avoid accumulation on any single day. The Gerindra Party politician also thanked all parties involved in securing and maintaining smooth traffic flow during the homecoming period.
“We also express our gratitude to all members of society who have taken advantage of this holiday period by choosing to travel home in the manner we expected, thereby preventing congestion on any single day,” he said.
The spokesperson for President Prabowo Subianto stated that all parties at the location, including the police, the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub), and state-owned enterprises such as Pelindo and ASDP Indonesia Ferry, have worked hard in the field.
“Including the TNI, which was asked by the President to provide transportation assets, including our maritime vessels, to assist in facilitating the flow of homebound traffic and later the return traffic to their respective regions,” he added.
Congestion during the homecoming period was evident at Gilimanuk Port in Bali on Monday (16 March). PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry (Persero) extended an apology for congestion in passenger transport heading to Ketapang Port in Banyuwangi, East Java.
“ASDP extends its apologies for the discomfort experienced by some of our service users,” said PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry (Persero) Secretary Windy Andale, according to Antara news agency on Monday (16 March 2026).
Jetty III at Ketapang Port in Banyuwangi, East Java, has implemented a full “arrival unload departure” (TBB) pattern for support vessels to reduce congestion and queues of homebound travellers at Gilimanuk Port in Bali.
“The implementation of the full TBB pattern at Jetty III of Ketapang Port began on 15 March 2026, as part of accelerated service delivery,” said Windy Andale.