The Jakarta administration has once again suspended Car Free Day (CFD) amid concerns over public health and safety following reports of dense crowds gathering at the weekly event's reopening on Sunday despite the fact that physical distancing protocols remained in force.

Jakarta Transportation Agency head Syafrin Liputo confirmed that the administration had suspended the event.

“[CFD] on [Jl.] Sudirman and Thamrin is suspended,” Syafrin told kompas.com on Wednesday, referring to the major thoroughfares in Central Jakarta where, under normal circumstances, the event takes place on Sundays.

Separately, Jakarta Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) head Arifin said the administration planned to use other public spaces, like parks, to accommodate Jakartans accustomed to exercising outdoors on CFD.

“For the time being, CFD on Sudirman and Thamrin is suspended. But there may be alternative spaces […] so people can [exercise] outside of Sudirman and Thamrin,” said Arifin. “We will look for public spaces in the city that can [host] physical activities.”

He said that moving CFD elsewhere would minimize the number of people that could gather in one place at a particular time.

Photographs and videos showed thousands of Jakartans flooding Central Jakarta on Sunday, walking, jogging or cycling down the two streets. The mass outdoor activity during the COVID-19 health emergency raised public health concerns, particularly because Jakarta is the epicenter of the Indonesian outbreak.

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