Transport Minister and Police Chief Visit Merak and Ciwandan Ports, Meet Travellers

Indonesia’s Transport Minister (Menhub) Dudy Purwagandhi, accompanied by the National Police’s Traffic Commander (Kakorlantas) Irjen Agus Suryonugroho, visited Merak Port in Cilegon, Banten. The pair conducted an inspection of the situation at Merak Port on H-3 Lebaran (three days before Lebaran).

According to monitoring at the location on Wednesday (18 March 2026) in the early morning hours, Dudy and Irjen Agus were observed greeting motorists waiting for ferries. Several gift packages were distributed to travellers heading home.

They subsequently visited Ciwandan Port, where they were seen interacting with motorcyclists travelling for the holiday period.

Accompanying the visit were Banten Governor Andra Soni, Banten Police Chief Irjen Hengki, and ASDP Managing Director Heru Widodo. Dudy noted that this day was predicted to be the peak of the holiday travel exodus.

“So you can see that as we predicted, on the 18th there will be a peak in the implementation of Lebaran transport,” said Dudy.

“Nevertheless, as you can see throughout the journey, thankfully, thanks to very good coordination with the Traffic Police and the Banten Police, people travelling towards Merak have been able to travel smoothly,” he added.

Meanwhile, Irjen Agus emphasised that Operation Ketupat 2026 is a humanitarian operation. He explained that traffic engineering measures have also been implemented on toll roads.

“So it is not just at the ports alone, but just now we and the Minister also travelled along toll roads. For your information, tonight traffic engineering has also been carried out on toll roads to facilitate travellers who will leave Jakarta heading towards Sumatra, including those taking the trans-Java route,” he explained.

Irjen Agus expressed hope that the homecoming and return journeys of the public in 2026 would be filled with happiness. He assured that the state is present to ensure security for those travelling home.

“Because this homecoming and return journey is a journey filled with happiness, a journey of longing, longing to be with family, longing for their hometowns, and the state is here to guarantee that,” he said.