GOVERNMENT TO PROTECT TRAVELERS FROM TICKET SCALPERS

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 15 (Antara) - The period of post-fasting, the Idul Fitri holidays, or Lebaran, where millions of travelers return home for family reunions, has found ticket scalpers reaping profits from would-be passengers.          Passengers who often become the target of scalpers are often those traveling by ship, train or bus. Air transportation is relatively safe from abuse by these middlemen.          The Ministry of Transportation will, therefore, focus its attention on protecting passengers from becoming victims of ticket scalpers by increasing the number of ships and trains available during the holiday period.          The Ministry will also cooperate with  police and other security officials to urge the public to report scalpers to the police.          Further, Transportation Minister EE Mangindaan said that officials and the public should cooperate to stop ticket scalpers who target travelers prior to the post-fasting Idul Fitri festivities.          "Ticket scalper practices are one of the things that have to be fought against by the alert forces of the police and other security officials," the transportation minister said on Monday.            He added that passengers were also expected to report to the security officials if they found scalpers offering services or selling tickets. The minister has ordered his rank and file to take actions against individuals who are involved in scalping transportation tickets.          "I have asked my rank and file to act upon ticket scalpers and prevent ticket price increases, which exceeds the official tariff rates, as it will harm the public," he noted.          He said that there should be no ticket price higher than what had been previously set by the government.          "Those who acted as scalpers must be reported. So, supervision and public complaints must be complementary," Mangindaan asserted.          He also called on the public to report any officials who do not follow government-sanctioned prices when they sell tickets to passengers.          Public transportation should provide good services, so that no passengers are left without transportation. "It should not happen that passengers are neglected," he noted.          He predicted the number of passengers would increase, including those using sea transportation, where those traveling were expected to increase by three percent, compared to last year's Idul Fitri occasion.          "It is predicted to increase by 3 percent from that in the previous year," he added.          The number of sea passengers is expected to reach 1,573,986, an increase of 45,845 from those in 2013, which stood at 1,528,141 passengers.          Transportation Deputy Minister Bambang Susantono said on Thursday last week that the government will deploy at least 1,200 ships to carry Idul Fitri travelers, who will arrive home by sea.         He pointed out that the capacity of the ships was already adequate, but on certain days during the peak season extra ships may be needed.          In connection with the predicted increase in the number of passengers, the ministry of transportation cooperated with the ministries, service providers and organizers of sea transportation for the post-fasting Lebaran travelers.          "Sea transportation for Idul Fitri travelers will commence 15 days before D-Day and last until 15 days after D-Day," Minister Mangindaan said.      The ministry of transportation has also set up an integrated Idul Fitri Sea Transportation Command Post for monitoring and controlling passengers traveling by sea.          "The command post is expected to control and coordinate all sea transportation processes for Idul Fitri or Lebaran travelers," the minister said.           He added that his ministry has ordered officials in charge to seriously supervise security for passengers, including controls on ticket scalpers, excessive ticket price increases (exceeding tariff based on regulations) and neglected passengers.          "Officials in charge must be sensitive in giving information to the public so that the public will understand the facilities we have prepared for them. The officials have to continue communicating with each other," the minister stressed.           On train transportation, Minister Mangindaan said that his ministry has decided to add two trains for transporting post-fasting Idul Fitri travelers. The two trains were ordered through the state-owned railway company PT KAI from state-owned train industry PT INKA.          "We have ordered five trains from PT INKA, but we have to speed up the delivery of two of them to transport Idul Fitri holiday makers this year," Mingindaan explained.          He said that the two trains consisted of 32 carriages, with a capacity of two thousand passengers. "The trains have been painted and are now ready for use," the minister pointed out.          Mangindaan earlier predicted that train passengers would increase 3.1 percent to 4.49 million.          He, however, could not guarantee the availability of tickets until next Monday, because express train tickets sold out because they were available online.          "Now, trains impose the policy of one ticket per seat. So, all passengers will get seats. If all seats are already occupied, it means that tickets are sold out," the minister stated.          Mangindaan said that the public preferred to use trains, because they feel they are more convenient, compared to buses, while their ticket prices were lower than airplanes.          "The public likes trains more than other modes of transportation because they can arrive at their destination on time, while their tickets are cheaper, though their destinations are farther," the minister remarked.          Deputy Transportation Minister Bambang Susantono even predicted that this year's Idul Fitri revelers could reach 30 million travelers.          Besides preparing ships and ferries to carry travelers, the government is also preparing at least 32 additional trains to assist during the Idul Fitri exodus.          "We have to mobilize all modes of transportation to serve some 30 million travelers. For this purpose, at least 32 additional trains with adequate coaches will be prepared," Bambang said.           Director General of Land Transportation at the Ministry of Transportation, Suroyo Alimoeso,  predicted that during this year's Idul Fitri holidays the number of home-bound travelers, excluding those traveling in their own vehicles, will increase by some 3.83 percent to 19.30 million over 2013, which saw 18.59 million travelers.          Taken together with those using their own private vehicles, totaling 4.16 million, the number of Idul Fitri travelers this year will account for about 24 million.          According to the director general, 5.59 million passengers were expected to use land transportation services, including 4.49 million who will travel on trains, 4.10 million on airplanes, 3.54 million will opt for inland waterway transportation (ASDP) services, and 1.57 million will travel by ships.          Private car travelers are forecast to reach 1.79 million this year, while the number of people riding motorcycles is expected to reach 2.37 million.          In the meantime, the Transportation Ministry's Air Transportation Director, Djoko Murdjatmodjo, earlier stated that five airlines had proposed additional flights to anticipate the increase in passenger traffic during the 2014 Idul Fitri exodus.          Those airlines include Sriwijaya Air, Nam Air, Lion Air, Indonesia Air Asia, and Garuda Indonesia. Sixteen additional flights will be added for 16 days, or seven days before and after the D-Day.          "A total of 903 flights will be made available during the 16 days," Djoko added.          The fasting month is expected to end on July 27, and the Lebaran or Idul Fitri holidays will fall on July 28 and 29, 2014.***3*** (T.A014/INE/a014) (T.SYS/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 15-07-2014 20:32