Provinces ramp up Idul Fitri holiday rush preparations

To meet the needs of an expolsion in passenger numbers over the Idul Fitri holiday, the Yogyakarta transport agency has readied 1,220 extra buses, says a government official.

“We have prioritized the safety and comfort of passengers during their travel,” Jhony Pramantya, the agency head, said, adding that each bus would be inspected this week.

The fleet consists of 500 inter-city buses, 350 inter-province buses and 370 buses kept in reserve.

PT Kereta Api is also mitigating the influx of passengers by operating three trains. The trains will serve the Solo-Jakarta route.

Meanwhile, the West Java land transportation agency has replaced 30 percent of its 35,000-strong fleet for the Muslim holidays.

Agency secretary Endang Sobirin said the road-worthiness of the buses varied according to their size, with minibuses run for 5 years, mid-sized 10 years and the largest buses 15 years.

“When the buses’ road-worthiness expires, operators are obliged to replace them,” he said.

He lamented many operators had asked to delay the refit citing economic pressures.

His agency has urged regency and municipal offices in the province to carry out field tests on the road-worthiness of buses at their terminals in the view of providing safety and comfort to passengers.

“Look at agencies servicing the Jakarta-Bandung route. They have developed rapidly because they heed passenger safety and comfort,” he said.

In South Sumatra, authorities will reportedly deploy 1,200 police personnel, or two-thirds of the force’s members, across the province.

Police Chief Insp. Gen. Hasyim Irianto said they planned to set up 21 makeshift police stations at several crime-prone areas.

“The stations will be set up to anticipate possible robberies and other crimes, like we did at Empat Lawang regency a few days ago,” he said.

The police personnel, he said, would be deployed ten days before and after Idul Fitri.

They will be assisted by personnel from the transportation, communications and information agency as well as those from the military and the health office.

— Yuli Tri Suwarni and Khairul Saleh contributed to this story from Bandung and Palembang respectively.