Government Focuses On Transportation Safety Ahead Of Christmas And New Year

Minister Of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian/DOK via ANTARA HO Ministry Of Home Affairs

JAKARTA - The government is focusing on transportation safety and increasing vigilance in vulnerable areas ahead of the Christmas and New Year celebrations (Nataru).

Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Tito Karnavian asked local governments (Pemda) to be more proactive in recording and inventory community activities during Nataru.

"We ask from the regions to prepare each one," Tito said as quoted by ANTARA, Friday, November 22.

He emphasized that every activity that has the potential to cause vulnerability needs to be well regulated and coordinated. This step is important in order to minimize risks and ensure the safety and comfort of all parties.

One of the modes of transportation that the Minister of Home Affairs pays attention to is sea transportation.

The Minister of Home Affairs reminded the importance of the ship's management's obligation to provide life vests in order to reduce the risk of casualties due to accidents. It will also prepare a Circular (SE) related to this.

"We will also provide a Circular, the Minister of Transportation and the ranks of the police and the TNI which have elements of the sea and its waters to remind the harbormasters that ship managers, ship transportation, including people's ships, are preparing life vests, buoys. The average survivors are using buoys," he said.

In addition, Tito also highlighted the airline's policy of increasing ticket prices to the highest limit during the peak of the holiday season.

According to him, this has the potential to trigger public complaints and encourage inflation. Therefore, his party asked the Ministry of Transportation to ensure that ticket prices remain under control.

"Especially routes to vacation areas and people who will return to their hometowns to do Christmas in areas where the majority of Christians are Christian," said Tito.

The Minister of Home Affairs also reminded the importance of crowd management in various places filled with community activities. Especially in tourist areas such as Bali and beaches with high risk.

Coordination with the police and local governments is considered crucial to avoid tragedy such as the mass buildup incident in Itaewon, Seoul, South Korea in 2022.

"Especially those (activities) are mass. This mass must be properly identified by all regions, and then the flow is really regulated. We know that later in Ancol it will usually be 300 thousand, but already used to it. The templates in the police already understand. But some areas, maybe there will be buildups," he said.

In order to anticipate potential vulnerabilities, he encouraged regional heads to hold a Regional Leadership Coordination Forum (Forkopimda) meeting to identify and mitigate typical problems that occur in their respective regions.

In addition, food preparation during Nataru is also ensured to remain under control, so that there is no significant shortage or increase in prices.

This comprehensive approach is expected to ensure the safety, smooth transportation, and comfort of the community during Nataru.

"They held a meeting to identify the typical vulnerabilities of their respective regions and after that we will monitor which areas are implementing which ones are not," concluded Tito.