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With province-wide mobility restrictions, West Java beefs up border checks to prevent 'mudik'
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Police officers monitor vehicles at a checkpoint at kilometer 31 of the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road in Bekasi regency, West Java on April 24, 2020. (kompas.com/Kristianto Purnomo)
T
he West Java administration has beefed up security at border posts across the province in a bid to prevent residents from participating in the Idul Fitri mudik (exodus), which has been banned as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil expected the move to bolster the province-wide large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) imposed in the region for two weeks starting Wednesday.
“One of the main objectives is to control mobility at entry points,” he said following a meeting with local police and military in provincial capital Bandung on Tuesday.
“Idul Fitri holidaymakers don’t only come from Greater Jakarta. Bandung also serves as a source of travelers,” he added.
West Java Transportation Agency head Hery Antasari said the police had recognized various methods people use to sneak past the authorities and go on a trip to other regions.
Read also: COVID-19: Jakarta to restrict visitors after Idul Fitri
Some had chartered ambulances, while others had hitched a ride on a pickup truck, he said. “We have identified such methods."
Hery said at least 3,000 vehicles had been stopped and instructed to return to their points of origin during the PSBB, which had started earlier in some of West Java's areas such as Bogor, Bekasi and Depok.
Several transportation agencies in a number of cities and regencies across the province have deployed their personnel to guard 252 entry points amid the mobility restrictions.
Hery, who is also a member of the province’s COVID-19 task force, said app-based motorcycle taxis would only be allowed to transport packages during the restrictions.
“Public transportation may continue to operate as long as it complies with the COVID-19 protocol,” he said.
Read also: COVID-19: 'Mudik' ban catches travelers flat-footed
West Java Health Agency head Berli Hamdani said the administration would maximize early detection of COVID-19 cases through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. The administration currently has 40,000 PCR test kits, Berli said.
“We will also carry out rapid tests in regions not yet affected by PSBB as instructed,” he said.
PSBB in Jakarta’s satellite cities and regencies of Bogor, Depok and Bekasi, which first started on April 15 and were initially scheduled to end on April 29, were extended for another two weeks.
As of Tuesday, West Java -- the second-hardest-hit province in the country after Jakarta - has recorded at least 1,300 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 87 deaths linked to the disease out of a nationwide tally of 12,071 infections and 872 fatalities. (rfa)
