Final dusk: The sun sets on busy Jl
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Unless you already have tickets for an all-night event or are in an emergency, it would be better to stay at home this New Year’s Eve as the Jakarta Police announced it would close major roads in the city.
The first casualty of the road closures on Dec. 31 will be Jl. Kemang Selatan in Kemang, South Jakarta, a popular dining and entertainment destination known for its notorious traffic congestion.
The traffic division of the South Jakarta Police said Jl. Kemang Selatan had to be closed on the evening of Dec. 31 because 10,000 Muslims in the area would hold a Koran recital.
“This is a regular event held every year on New Year’s Eve by the Nurul Musthofa group. We don’t know that a permit was issued for the event, though,” Comr. Lilik Sumardi, the head of traffic division, said.
He added that Jl. Kemang Selatan would be the only closed-off road in South Jakarta.
Road closures in North Jakarta will begin at 9:30 p.m. on New Year’s Eve in anticipation of a heavy stream of revelers headed to the city-organized celebrations at the Ancol amusement park.
The city decided to concentrate this year’s New Year’s Eve celebrations in Ancol rather than the National Monument, where celebrations are traditionally held, saying it wanted to limit damage at the monument by partygoers.
The Jakarta Police Traffic Management Center (TMC) said road closures would affect a number of main roads in North Jakarta, including Jl. Baru Ancol, Jembatan Goyang, Jl. Bintang Mas, the Lodan intersection and Jl. Pasir Putih.
The TMC website, however, said the roads could be closed earlier depending on the traffic situation.
Jakartans traveling to Puncak in Bogor are advised to leave early as the Jakarta Police and Bogor Police will stop traffic bound for the hillside resort area tomorrow from 8 p.m.
TMC head Sr. Comr. Royke Lumowa Jaya said that for New Year’s Eve celebrations, the main thoroughfares of Jl. Sudirman, Jl. M.H. Thamrin and Jl. Gatot Subroto would remain open.
However, Royke was quick to qualify his statement. “We will divert traffic off those streets if they get too congested,” he told The Jakarta Post.
Jakarta will host 155 major events for New Year’s Eve, the police said.
“There will be 59 programs in Central Jakarta, 17 in North Jakarta, 15 in West Jakarta and 33 in South Jakarta. The remainder will take place in the surrounding areas,” Jakarta Police spokesman Baharuddin Djafar said.
The events, which include religious events, were expected to draw more than 450,000 people, he said.
“We expect the biggest crowd to be at Ancol, with more than 280,000 attending,” he said, adding that more than 50,000 people were expected to attend New Year’s Eve prayers at At-Tin Mosque at the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) theme park.
“We expect 30,000 people to gather at the National Monument, even though there won’t be any events there,” Baharuddin said.
The police said they would deploy more than 7,000 officers across the city.
“The priority areas are Monas, Ancol and TMII,” Baharuddin said.
He added that 800 officers would be posted at the National Monument, while 1,000 officers would guard Ancol.
“There will be more officers deployed to Ancol because of the larger crowds, parties and fireworks”.
He called on the public to be aware of when the affected roads would be closed. (gzl)
Road closures
Area Time
Ancol 9.30 p.m.
Puncak, Bogor 8 p.m.
Kemang Selatan Not available
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