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Jakarta Post

Exodus route hellish from Jakarta to S. Sumatra

Many motorists are predicting this year’s Idul Fitri exodus journey from Jakarta to South Sumatra will be unbearable given the threat of congestion, especially at Merak Port in Banten

Oyos Saroso H.N. (The Jakarta Post)
Bandarlampung
Sat, August 27, 2011

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Exodus route hellish from Jakarta to S. Sumatra

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any motorists are predicting this year’s Idul Fitri exodus journey from Jakarta to South Sumatra will be unbearable given the threat of congestion, especially at Merak Port in Banten.

Damaged bridges are also another obstacle for homebound travelers along the Sumatra overland routes.

“There are at least 20 damaged bridges in Lampung located along Sumatra’s eastern, western, central and east coast highways,” said Lampung chapter Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) head Subadrayani Moersalin on Friday.

Cakat Raya Bridge on the Sumatra eastern highway and Besai Bridge on the central highway in Way Kanan regency, Lampung, are two major bridges that are damaged.

Moersalin said the government was not ready to cope with the Idul Fitri exodus this year due to only 28 ferries (most of which are obsolete or break down) serving the Merak-Bakauheni ferry crossing, incomplete bridges and road repairs.

“The Jakarta to South Sumatra exodus trip will be a hellish route for travelers,” he said.

Moersalin added on normal days traffic to Merak Port could back up to dozens of kilometers, with many trucks and buses accumulating at the port’s parking area.

“Merak Port is prone to congestion because most of the ferries are obsolete and are forced to give priority to carry passengers,” said Moersalin.

Bakauheni Port Indonesia Ferry (ASDP) operational manager Heru Purwanto said his office was ready to face the surging number of passengers during the exodus. He added that the Bakauheni Port authority had opened Dock IV before the Ramadhan fasting month.

He said Bakauheni Port was equipped with four docks, each able to serve six ferries plying up to four round trips daily.

“If each dock can serve 24 ferry trips daily, the total five docks can serve 90 trips daily. There should not be a problem during the Idul Fitri exodus because each ferry can serve four trips daily,” he said.

Heru also ensured there would be no congestion of trucks because all cargo trucks were banned from operating seven days before and after Idul Fitri.

“During Idul Fitri we permit private cars and motorcycles, not trucks. Despite the surge in the number of private vehicles during the peak of the exodus, there will not be truck congestion,” he said.

Meanwhile, many homebound travelers using private cars and passenger vans said they felt unsafe using highways from Lampung to South Sumatra despite the fact that the Lampung Police have deployed snipers in a number of crime-prone areas.

“Many thugs direct traffic around the damaged Cakat Paya bridge in Tulangbawang regency and demand money. They become angry and bang on cars if they are given small sums. “Motorists are afraid to travel the road at night due to the absence of police personnel,” said a passenger van driver, Suherman. “Road workers also are often intimidated by thugs so they delay bridge construction.”

The Lampung Police will intensify security a week before and after Idul Fitri. “We will also deploy plain-clothes police personnel,” Lampung Police chief Brig. Gen. Sulistyo Ishak said.

Sulistyo added that the provincial police had assigned officers to work with every public transportation mode such as trains, ferries and buses plying Bakauheni and Rajabasa, including Radin Inten II Airport. Police will also place snipers at crime-prone locations.

“We have prioritized Bakauheni Port and the highways because Bakauheni is the gateway to Sumatra from Java. We are calling it the Ketupat Krakatau operation,” he said.

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