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Jakarta Post

Holiday mood may still extend

Return to Eden: Motorbikes and cars pack the deck of a ferry heading to Bali from Java

Bagus BT Saragih and Fikri Zaki Muhammadi (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Mon, August 12, 2013

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Holiday mood may still extend Return to Eden: Motorbikes and cars pack the deck of a ferry heading to Bali from Java. As the long Idul Fitri holiday ends, hundreds of thousands of migrant workers will flock back to the resort island. (JP/Ni Komang Erviani) (JP/Ni Komang Erviani)

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span class="inline inline-none">Return to Eden: Motorbikes and cars pack the deck of a ferry heading to Bali from Java. As the long Idul Fitri holiday ends, hundreds of thousands of migrant workers will flock back to the resort island. (JP/Ni Komang Erviani)

Although all government offices in Jakarta officially reopen and the private sector resumes operations on Monday, traffic jams will unlikely fully saturate Jakarta for another few days.

The peak of passenger arrivals was expected Sunday evening, but many parents apparently will extend their holidays, as public schools are still closed this week.  

Around 9.7 million people from Jakarta '€œabandoned'€ the capital and left for their hometowns during the annual Idul Fitri exodus, an increase of 8.6 percent from last year, resulting in empty roads in almost all parts of the city. Government offices across the country were closed from Aug. 5 to Aug. 10.

This weekend marked the arrival of more than 10,000 passengers at Pasar Senen Station in Central Jakarta, returning from various cities in Central and East Java, and of 7,000 citizens at stations in Jatinegara in East Jakarta and Bekasi. Officials at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport estimated the peak of passenger arrivals occurred on Sunday night.

The National Police reported at least 471 people had died in traffic accidents during the annual Idul Fitri exodus as of Saturday, an official said. By comparison, the recorded death toll during the entire Idul Fitri holiday period last year was 491.

The traffic accidents involved some 3,621 vehicles, of which nearly 75 percent were motorcycles.

'€œThere have been 2,095 total traffic accidents, in which 747 people sustained major injuries and 2,688 endured minor ones,'€ National Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Agus Rianto said in Jakarta on Sunday, as quoted by Antara news agency.

Meanwhile, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and First Lady Ani Yudhoyono held an open house at the State Palace compound on the first Idul Fitri day on Thursday. They greeted a variety of guests, from national figures like Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto to blind people. Palace officials said the palace was prepared to host up to
5,000 guests.

A blind man received Rp 300,000 (US$29) from the First Family but had no chance to shake hands with the couple. This year'€™s open house was considered much better organized compared to that of the previous year. Last year, a blind man died in a stampede at the same event.

Jakarta Governor Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo, whom Jakartans expected to greet guests at his official residence in Menteng, Central Jakarta, visited flood victims in
Ulujami, South Jakarta, and residents of Jatinegara Kaum in East Jakarta and Pademangan in North Jakarta.

Jokowi reasoned that leaders are public servants and as such, often make mistakes that affect the people. Instead of people coming to his open house, Jokowi preferred to visit them and apologize.

'€œLeaders make mistakes in their policies and in other things, hence, they should apologize to the people,'€ Jokowi said after the Idul Fitri prayer at City Hall, as quoted by tempo.com.

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