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View all search resultsKeep your distance: Passengers sit in a lounge with social distancing signs before boarding the Singosari train toward Blitar, East Java, at Senen Station in Jakarta on Thursday
eep your distance: Passengers sit in a lounge with social distancing signs before boarding the Singosari train toward Blitar, East Java, at Senen Station in Jakarta on Thursday.(JP/Seto Wardhana)
The government is mulling over a plan to ban this year’s Idul Fitri mudik (exodus) to prevent city dwellers from spreading the coronavirus to towns and villages across the archipelago, but questions remain as to how such a ban would be implemented.
Ramadan is expected to take place from April 23 to May 23 this year, followed by the Islamic holiday on May 24 and 25.
This Idul Fitri season was expected to see some 20 million people travel to their places of origin, resulting in a massive stream of urbanites to rural areas. In the current coronavirus crisis, with 893 confirmed infections and 78 deaths logged nationwide up until Thursday, government officials and experts have expressed worry that the exodus might trigger an explosion of cases and deaths.
The Office of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister conducted a meeting with other institutions on Monday to discuss the matter. The office’s spokesperson, Jodi Mahardi, said a mudik ban was an option “seriously considered” by the government.
“The safety of the people is our priority,” he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
He said that a limited Cabinet meeting had been scheduled for Friday to discuss the government’s final decision on the issue.
In a press release issued by the office on Tuesday, Jodi said that three scenarios had been presented to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo; the first was the business-as-usual scenario — meaning the mudik would proceed just like in the past; the second was to allow people to proceed with the mudik but not to actively support it, such as through companies offering free transportation as they typically do, and the last was to ban the mudik.
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