Central Java migrants offered free ride home
Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Semarang | Sat, 09/05/2009 9:02 PM
About 6,000 Central Java migrants working in Jakarta will be given a free ride home this Idul Fitri with the provincial government preparing 120 buses for the purpose.
Head of the Central Java representative office in Jakarta, Maryanto, said the free transport was intended for people who work in the informal sector, such as housemaids, construction workers, public transportation drivers and motorcycle taxi drivers.
The buses will leave Jakarta on Sept. 16 from the Central Java stand in the Indonesia Miniature Park in East Jakarta.
Maryanto said the provincial government had provided 50 buses, with the rest coming from regency administrations across the province.
The government estimates that six million out of the 16 million holiday makers traveling across Indonesia this Idul Fitri will head to Central Java.
Central Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Alex Bambang Riatmodjo said up to 9,000 officers would be deployed to protect holiday makers on the roads and ease traffic along the trans-Java highway.
He dismissed reports of a shoot-on-sight policy being enforced to fight crime throughout the holiday season.
“I don’t expect it will take effect. People only need to comply with the law to keep the police from harshly enforcing it,” he said.
