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Rp 7b allocated for Pelni for Idul Fitri travel
The Transportation Ministry has allocated Rp 7 billion (US$604,543) for state-owned shipping company PT Pelni to provide free round trips from Jakarta to Semarang for those traveling via motorcycle during Idul Fitri
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he Transportation Ministry has allocated Rp 7 billion (US$604,543) for state-owned shipping company PT Pelni to provide free round trips from Jakarta to Semarang for those traveling via motorcycle during Idul Fitri.
'Such a budget is not enough as the operational costs of providing such trips are quite high,' Pelni president director Sulistyo Wimbo Hardjito said as quoted by Antara news agency.
He was speaking to journalists on board passenger vessel KM Ciremai during a trip from Jakarta to Semarang on Sunday.
Wimbo said the government should ideally allocate more than Rp 10 billion for Pelni to provide free holiday travel services to travelers using motorcycles, as with such funds the company could provide 10 round trips from Jakarta to Semarang.
Pelni organized the first batch of travelers from Jakarta to Semarang on Thursday and the second batch on Saturday. It has organized for them to return to Jakarta on Aug.2 and Aug.4.
Wimbo said travelers' interest in returning home by sea had continued to increase. The seats were sold out three weeks before the departure date, but there were still a lot of motorcyclists interested in free homeward-bound travel services.
According to Wimbo, there was now higher awareness among people to ensure safe travel as road accidents caused by damaged roads and bad traffic congestion continued to increase.
'It takes only 15 hours to travel from Jakarta to Semarang by sea while by land, it can be far longer. They also will be very tired when they arrive,' said Wimbo. He hoped the Transportation Ministry could allocate more funds to free homeward-bound travel services for travelers using motorcycles. (ebf)
