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Jokowi calls for earlier trips as Mudik congestion looms
A government survey predicts that 23 million cars and 17 million motorcycles will crowd the motorways on heavily-populated Java this year, leading authorities to suggest earlier holiday travel.
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A woman (left) reacts while receiving a Pfizer booster vaccine for the COVID-19 in Jakarta, on March 29. The government has accelerated vaccination programs ahead of Idul Fitri in May, when many people will leave the capital and return to their hometowns. (AFP/Adek Berry)
T
he government has asked people to make earlier homebound journeys during mudik (exodus) this year in anticipation of nationwide congestion, with some 85 million people expected to travel ahead of Idul Fitri festivities for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic started.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo warned of “severe congestion” during mudik season, citing a recent Transportation Ministry survey predicting that some 23 million cars and 17 million motorcycles would crowd motorways nationwide over the course of the holiday.
As a precaution, Jokowi called on travelers this year to avoid hitting the road on April 28, 29 and 30 – days that are expected to be the peak of the homebound exodus.
“The government has prepared traffic policies such as odd-even rules and one-way [traffic engineering], as well as a ban on trucks on toll roads,” the President said in a statement on Monday.
“I also invite people to make earlier mudik journeys where their work schedules allow it,” he added.
For the millions of Muslims in Indonesia, especially on heavily populated Java, this Ramadan will be the first time in two years that they are allowed to head home overland to reunite with relatives and celebrate the national holiday.
The government had already decided to extend the Lebaran season by mandating more collective leave days, effectively shuttering offices for the entire week of Idul Fitri, which falls on May 2 and 3 on the official calendar.
