Jakarta, June 29 (Antara) - The Directorate General of Sea Transportation has continued to monitor the sea transportation services for Eid al-Fitr, or Lebaran travelers, during the current post-fasting month festivities.
In order to make the services at the seaports across the country smooth, Director General of Sea Transportation of the Ministry of Transportation Antonius Tonny Budiono review the flow of travelers at a number of seaports in the country, such as in Surabaya (East Java) and Makassar (South Sulawesi).
The directorate general of sea transportation is now concentrating on the return flow of the Lebaran travelers who have celebrated the festivity in their hometowns. This year, according to the directorate general, the number of Eid travelers using the sea transportation increased by about three percent.
"We predict that the number of passengers increased by three percent this year from that in 2016," Budiono, who is also called Tonny, stated on the sidelines of his review of the Makassar Port Terminal in South Sulawesi on Wednesday night.
Based on the Directorate General of Sea Transportation information on its website, reports from the Lebaran Transportation Command Posts in 52 ports in the country mentioned that up to June 29 at 6 a.m. Western Indonesian Standard Time (WIB), a total of 962,693 passengers had been recorded to embark on the ships.
This shows an increase of about three percent of some 934,654 Lebaran travelers using the sea transportation services in 2016.
The command posts in the 52 seaports also recorded the number of travelers disembarking the ships at the same period this year to be at 920,288. Up to Thursday morning, there were no high accumulations of passengers at ports and there were no passengers who could not be transported by ships.
Therefore, the director general expressed appreciation to all officials in charge of handling Lebaran transportation services this year. Budiono made the appreciation while conducting working visits to a number of ports in the country.
"I should express my gratitude to all the officials tasked with handling the transportation services and those assigned at the command posts for the 2017 Lebaran Transportation Service. Now, I have called on the officials to focus on monitoring the backflow and providing services for travelers," he remarked in Makassar.
Tony was inspecting the Kalianget port at Sumenep, Madura, the Gresik Port and Tanjung Perak Port of Surabaya, all in East Java.
The director general stated that ship capacity remains adequate although the number of passengers increased by three percent. The capacity is adequate both during the homecoming trips and the return flow of passengers.
"We also have two standby ships that are ready to be mobilized if passengers drastically increase," he noted.
In general, the transportation services this year are better than that in 2016. The government has done its best to improve its ship route management. There is a good synergy among regulators, operators, and passengers to jointly resolve any emerging problem.
Hence, he assured his office's readiness to serve returning Eid al-Fitr or Lebaran travelers at a number of ports in Indonesia.
"I was ordered by the Minister of Transportation to monitor the readiness of the sea transportation services for the return flow of Lebaran 2017," he told reporters, on the sidelines of monitoring the preparedness of backflow service at the Port of Tanjung Perak Surabaya, on Wednesday.
The director general monitored the Port of Tanjung Perak of Surabay after he had first reviewed the readiness of Makassar Port, South Sulawesi.
Tony not only monitored the large ports but also the smaller ones that serve the sea transportation for the islands' residents. Before arriving at the Port of Tanjung Perak Surabaya, he first monitored Kalianget port in Madura Island and Gresik Port, which served passengers of the Bawean Island.
In addition to reviewing the readiness of Tanjung Perak Port of Surabaya, the director general, during his series of visits in East Java, continued his tour of the Port of Banyuwangi.
"My arrival has convinced the public on the hassle-free return flow of Lebaran through sea transport," he added. He expressed hope that the return flow through sea transport from various ports in Indonesia will run smoothly.
The homecoming flow was good, the return flow would hopefully be good too. The director genera¿s visit to various ports were to promote, among the operators and the community, the need to accord priority to safety.
The procedures and use of safety equipment should be made a culture. "So far, both operators and transportation service users still consider the procedures for the provision and use of safety equipment as a rule. If it becomes a culture, they will use safety equipment even if there are no directives," he remarked.
He cited the fire in the Zahro Express tourist boat in Muara Angke, Jakarta, in early 2017 as an example. It claimed a lot of lives because the ship operators and passengers ignored the safety equipment.
"The passengers aboard Muara Angke did not want to wear a life jacket. But after the accident that claimed many lives, they started using their own life jackets even without instruction because it had become a culture," he pointed out.***1***(A014/INE)
EDITED BY INE(T.A014/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 29-06-2017 19:16: |
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