Editorial: ‘Mudik’ travel woes

The Jakarta Post   |  Fri, 10/03/2008 7:26 AM  |  Opinion

Like a mass pilgrimage during the last two weeks of Ramadan, millions of Indonesians make the annual journey (known locally as mudik) to their hometowns including tens of thousands who make the trip from overseas.

This trip is made in the festive spirit to meet parents, relatives and friends for a short period during the Idul Fitri holidays following the Islamic fasting month a gathering comparable to Thanksgiving in the U.S..

And one week from now we will see the reverse flow when the festive season comes to an end, with no-less hectic traffic than we saw on the way out.

According to government estimates, 2.5 million people will leave Jakarta and, as usual, this number will increase by ten percent when they return because of the lure of work in the capital.
The revelers travel by land, sea and air, criss-crossing cities, towns, villages, islands or countries. Some travel from Papua in the eastern-most tip of Indonesia to Aceh in the western-most tip (a distance further than from San Francisco to New York).

Most of them will use public transportation, and it is this sector which the government needs to take a more serious look at.

The prospects for the public transportation system in our country are not hopeful, and to expect it to cope during times like the annual Idul Fitri exodus is unrealistic.

However, something could be done.

Some facts are helpful. The holidays are a yearly event, meaning its dates are fixed. According to the government, the number of people traveling this holiday season will be around 16 million.

This is useful information to consider when constructing a plan of how to cater for these people in a reasonable and comfortable manner. And yet, while Idul Fitri comes and goes every year, fundamental shortcomings abound.

One example is repair work on some inter-city roads which was started only days prior to the holidays. Obviously, the traffic flow of revelers will be affected. This is especially so in Java and Sumatra, the two most populated islands which have the most developed infrastructure.

And why are our roads so prone to damage?

This is a silly question because the answer is clear. Road construction projects are often marred with corruption, and this evil practice adversely affects the quality of our roads.

Questions can be raised over road and train safety, or the seaworthiness or airworthiness of our transportation systems. Every year, ugly scenes of repeat themselves in this sector.

More than 60 people have been killed in the road this week. Last year, the death toll during the Idul Fitri holidays was more than 350 people.

On Sunday revelers wasted hours of their time sitting on their vehicles due to a 36-kilometer traffic jam in Central Java town of Cirebon.

Kompas reported that thousands of iron locks that hold railway tracks to their sleepers had been stolen from tracks stretching from Bandar Lampung to Palembang in southern Sumatra.

Imagine what would happen to a train if the railway tracks shifted.

And in Maluku province, passengers on a ship were terrified when the lights went out and the ship’s taps would not work.

However, there were some encouraging signs too. On Sept. 23, the Ambon port authority would not permit the Bandanaire to sail when around 700 people crammed into the boat which was only supposed to carry 250.

These happy days should not be spoiled with sadness, like the deaths of love ones on their travels.

And thousands more revelers will have unpleasant experiences on buses, trains, ships and aeroplanes this year. Overcrowded buses, trains and ships or overbooked airplanes are something which seems to happen again and again.

Why is it so?

Because of our lack of vision in designing our transportation system properly.

From an entrepreneur’s point of view, millions of people making trips every year is a mouth-watering opportunity, so surely something can be done about it. Isn’t the most dreadful challenge to the travel industry an absence of passengers? Here, they come in their millions.

The government’s attempts to accommodate the steep increase in the number of travelers during the holidays — by adding buses, train carriages or ships — are no longer adequate.

The government needs to sit down and create a comprehensive, long-term plan to ensure revelers can make a pleasant journey home every year.

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