Udayana Military Commander Targets Clearance of Long Queues at Gilimanuk Port Before Nyepi

Denpasar – The commander of Udayana Military Region IX, Major General Piek Budyakto, has targeted clearing the extended queues at Gilimanuk Port by 18 March 2026, or one day before Nyepi Day.

“Hopefully from today through tomorrow and the day after, all these queues can be discharged. As the regional police chief indicated, by 18 March those leaving Bali should be completely finished and cleared,” he stated in Denpasar on Monday.

During a Coordination Meeting on Handling Social Conflict with Bali’s Governor and regional police, Mayjen Piek explained that he had personally surveyed the departure route to Gilimanuk Port on Sunday, 15 March. He acknowledged potential risks arising from traffic density, but clarified that the situation involved long queues for crossing rather than congestion as narrated in various social media accounts.

“It is not congestion, but rather queuing. Congestion and queuing are different things. With congestion, traffic ahead is not moving, but here the traffic ahead is moving, it is just a long queue,” he said.

The Udayana Military Commander observed that conditions at Gilimanuk Port were gradually improving. On Saturday, 14 March, queues lasted 15 hours, whilst the following day they reduced to 10 hours.

Various measures have been implemented by military personnel collaborating with the regional police on traffic management, including using military facilities as rest areas for travellers whilst waiting in queue.

Therefore, Mayjen Piek is confident queues will continue to diminish until completely cleared on the evening of Pengerupukan or one day before Nyepi Day.

Similar commitments were made by Bali Regional Police Chief Inspector General Daniel Adityajaya, who stated that after reports of Bali departures reaching 37 kilometres emerged, his team immediately discussed measures to clear this congestion by 18 March.

“We also discussed why information appeared on social media yesterday about Bali being completely congested up to 37 kilometres. There is some truth to it, but not everything is accurate, so these past few days we have been determining how to clear people departing from Bali,” he said.

For the Nyepi celebration, the Bali police force recognises that not only outbound queues require attention, but also inbound queues entering Bali.