Welcoming Ramadan, Hundreds Of Padang Residents Still Bathe Balimau Despite Police Ban

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PADANG - Hundreds of residents of Padang City, West Sumatra, continue to do the tradition of clean bathing ahead of Ramadan or "balimau" at the Lubuk Rayo Dam Balai Gadang Koto Tangah District. Balimau was previously banned by the police in anticipation of the spread of COVID-19.

One of the residents of Ad (38) said he came to the dam to bathe balimau. Tabing resident came to the bathhouse because it was not far from his house

"I came with my family to bathe balimau, something like this we usually do to clean ourselves up for Ramadan", he was quoted as saying by Antara, Tuesday, April 12.

Meanwhile, another resident, Ilen (43) came with his family to the location.

"The kids just took a shower, I saw from above, haven't showered, maybe waited for the sun to set a little bit so it didn't feel hot", he said.

"I came here with rice, side dishes, and fried foods to eat together. Usually, if you finish swimming the kids are hungry", he said.

This dam is one of the new tourist destinations in Padang City as a bathing place for residents.

At around 4:15 p.m., several residents began to enter the dam to take a shower. Some are just swimming and some use tires to swim

Also, several children jumped from the suspension bridge that runs along the river and bathed into the water at the dam.

Previously, the Head of Public Relations of Sumbar Police Kombes Satake Bayu urged the local community not to carry out the tradition of bathing balimau before entering the month of Ramadan.

The tradition of bathing balimau is usually done in certain areas, such as in the river and in other bathing places that in the implementation some use lime.

"During the COVID-19 pandemic, in carrying out the tradition of balimau in the bathhouse is certainly still not recommended. This can certainly be a trigger for the spread of coronavirus", he said.

Sumbar Police Chief expects that there will be no crowds in anticipation of the spread of COVID-19.

"So for its nature like that (balimau) is encouraged not to do it in public baths", he said.