Public offices take break for 10 days

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 10/04/2007 8:14 AM | Jakarta

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The city administration announced Wednesday its public service offices would close for 10 days from Oct. 12 to Oct. 21 for the Idul Fitri holiday.

Governor Sutiyoso said, however, several services would continue to operate, including the fire agency, the city's hospitals, the transportation sector and the public order agency.

""We'll keep serving those areas; so people need not worry,"" said the outgoing governor.

The tax office will be among those that will close during the long holiday. But, the provincial secretary's assistant for finance, Deden Supriyadi, said the city administration would allow exemptions for those payments due during the long holiday.

""We'll annul penalties for late payments with the holiday in mind,"" said Deden.

Meanwhile, head of the city's transportation agency, Nurachman, said the busway would continue to operate over the holiday, but at a lower frequency due to an estimated reduced number of passengers.

""But, we may increase the number of buses heading to recreational sites like Ancol (in North Jakarta) and Ragunan Zoo (in South Jakarta) because many people spend their time at those places during the Idul Fitri holiday,"" Nurachman said.

He said the number of overall busway passengers would drop because around 4.7 million people were expected to leave Jakarta for the holiday.

""We predict that around 2.3 million people will leave Jakarta for their hometowns using public transportation, while around 2.4 million others will travel by motorcycle,"" said Nurachman, adding he could not estimate the number of travelers who would use private cars.

Jakarta Police Chief Insp. Gen. Adang Firman said the police would patrol housing areas left by holidaymakers as well as shopping centers and transportation terminals.

""...But, I have a limited number of personnel, so I hope Jakarta residents will also maximize efforts to secure their own homes,"" Adang said.

The National Police will provide 279 command post units to assist travelers during the exodus along the routes from Jakarta to areas in Java. (11)

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