RI BRACING FOR EXODUS OF IDUL FITRI TRAVELERS

By Andi Abdussalam

     Jakarta, Sept 13 (ANTARA) - Virtually all big cities in Indonesia are currently bracing themselves for an exodus of an estimated  15.8 million people who are to spend the annual Idul Fitri post-fasting month holidays in their home towns or villages later this month.
     In the runup to the D-Day of the Idul Fitri season which  according to the official calendar this year falls on October 1, the government is preparing and repairing various modes of transportation to serve  the home-going people.
     In Indonesia, where most of its  228 million population are Muslims, the end of the Ramadhan fasting month , locally called 'Lebaran', is an important event where most urban workers and their families would return to their home towns or villages to have  reunions with relatives and old friends.
     This year the number of home-bound travelers is expected to increase by 6.14.
     Transportation Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal said the number of this year's Idul Fitri home-going travelers would reach 15.8 million, or an increase of 6.14 percent compared with last year's.
  "Of the number, 9.9 million will travel using land transportation, 1 million by sea and 1.9 million by air," the minister told the press last week.
   In order to facilitate transportation means for travelers, the government has prepared transportation seats which reached 35.67 million. This seems to have exceeded the estimated demands for seats at only 15.8 million. "So, the availability of seats will be guaranteed," the minister said.
    Besides transportation facilities, the government is also determined to provide security for people during the Lebaran exodus.
    Security apparatuses, police officers and military personnel are  all ready to safeguard transportation during the Lebaran festivities.
    "Security preparations in 8 main provinces are also being made," Minister Jusman Syafii added.
     Head of Police Headquarters for Operational Affairs, Brig Gen Edhi Susilo said police in the efforts to secure the Lebaran festivities would launch an operation code-named "Operasi Ketupat 2008" which would be reinforced with about 43,700 personnel.
     As the number of two-wheel vehicle travelers is expected to reach 2.5 million, police have made anticipatory preparations to escort them.
     Other preparations are being made by the government in the runup to the Lebaran festivities are facilities for land, air and sea (inland waterways) transportation services.
     At least 67 ferries will be operated to cater passengers who will leave Java island to Sumatra, Madura and Bali.
     PT Indonesia Ferry said it would operate 25 ferries of the ro-ro (roll-on-roll-off) type to serve Idul Fitri passengers who would cross the Sunda Strait from Java to Sumatra.
     "During the peak season, all of the ships will be operated," PT Indonesia Ferry President Director Bambang Soerjanto said last week.
     He said that the state-owned company was making preparations in all lines of the ferry service. "Our target is to provide services far better than the one we provided last year," he added.
     Like in Merak port, preparations are also made for passengers who will use ferry services from East Java to Bali through the Ketapang-Gilimanuk ports.
     A total of 24 ferry ships are now standby with good conditions, except two which are now still under repair in a dockyard in East Java. They will ply the Bali strait to serve passengers.
     "The repair of the ship will be finished 10 days before Lebaran," Didik Budiastono of the Seaworthiness Affairs of the Ketapang Port said on Thursday. He said the two ferries were actually on a routine docking in Surabaya, provincial capital of East Java.
     Other Idul Fitri travelers in Java who will celebrate the festivities in Madura island will also be served by at least 18 ferries. The 18 ships are prepared by the Inland Waterway Transportation Service (ASDP) of Ujung Kamal, Bangkalan (Madura).
     Soetarjo of the ASDP said of the 19 ships, 12 were regular ones and 6 others were non regular which were especially prepared for the Lebaran event.
     In the meantime, for passengers who intend to travel by air, the Transportation Ministry is making efforts to increase seat capacity by concluding increase frequency flight approvals (FA) with airlines.
     "We are preparing at least 35 FAs in the face of home-going Idul Fitri exodus," Air Transportation Director General Tri Sunoko said on Thursday.
      The effort would at least add flight seats of flag carrier Garuda Indonesia which were reported to have almost been fully booked. PT Garuda Indonesia said tickets for regular flight were now almost fully booked for this year's Idul Fitry holidays.
      According to Tri Sunoko, the 35 additional FAs are new flight routes created to serve passengers. They are proposed by Sriwijaya Air (14 routes), Mandala Air (4 routes), Batavia Air (6 routes), Garuda and Lion Air (11 routes).
      The government predicted that about 1.8 million of 15.8 Idul Fitri travelers will use air transportation service this year. This is an increase by 9 percent compared with that a year earlier at 1.7 million.
      Other transportation means which are mostly used by travelers is train. State-owned train company PT INKA is also making preparations.
      Especially for Lebaran transportation this year, the government through the Transportation Ministry has ordered at least 25 economy-class coaches  and  20 executive class  ones from PT INKA.
      "All coaches for executive-, business-, economy-class  and community trains have been completed by PT INKA and they are now ready for use," the company's president director, Roos Diatmoko, said.
      Overall, the number of coaches ordered for this year's Lebaran holidays reached 86. They have been constructed in a marathon way since June 2008 by about 800 workers.
      "So, we are ready to operate during the Lebaran festivities," Roos Diatmoko said.

(T.a014/A/HAJM/14:30/a/f001) 13-09-2008 14:38:49