Ministry Of Transportation Holds Coordination Meeting On Readiness Of The Merak-Bakauheni Crossing

JAKARTA - The Directorate General of Land Transportation of the Ministry of Transportation held a Coordination Meeting on Preparedness for the 2022 Eid Transport at the Merak-Bakauheni Crossing with related agencies.

"There are three main targets that must be carried out on Lebaran Transport 2022, namely safety, smoothness, and comfort. Safety in terms of handling COVID-19 and travel safety to minimize potential accidents must also be carried out," said Director General of Land Transportation Budi Setiyadi in a written statement quoted by Antara. Between, Thursday, April 7th.

Budi said all parties involved in the 2022 Lebaran Transport, not only the government, but also the people who travel must have awareness in following the health protocols and travel conditions that have been set.

He also hopes that for the smooth flow of going back and forth at the Merak-Bakauheni crossing, there needs to be discretion from the Banten and Lampung Regional Police.

In addition, Director General Budi conveyed also related to service posts that need to be prepared by all parties.

"According to the direction of the Minister of Transportation, the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, and the National Police Chief, they have agreed that there will be no isolation posts for checking, but a service post will be built to help the community go home smoothly," he said.

In general, the Directorate General of Hubdat monitors the area of the Crossing Transportation Sector on eight routes, namely Merak-Bakauheni, Ketapang-Gilimanuk, Padangbai-Lembar, Kayangan-Pototano, Ajibata-Ambarita, Tanjung Api-Api-Tanjung Kelian, Kariangau-Penajam, and Bajoe- Kolaka.

In addition to discussing the readiness for Lebaran 2022 in terms of crossings, Director General Budi also appealed to people who will be traveling back and forth to organize and prepare their time.

"We hope that people can anticipate when going home and returning so that they don't pile up during the peak period of homecoming and return flows. For the homecoming flow, it is estimated that the peak will be on April 30-1 May, while the return flow will be on May 7-8," he added.

In addition, he also revealed that people should avoid using public transportation vehicles, both buses and travel that are not licensed.

This is to anticipate the transportation safety factor that is not guaranteed because the vehicle does not have an official permit according to applicable regulations.

On the same occasion, Head of BPTD Region VIII Banten Province Handjar Dwi Antoro stated that his party had carried out a ramp check since March 11, 2022.

"From the results of the ramp check that we carried out on the ships serving the 2022 Lebaran Transport, there were 71 ships and 2 ships docked, so that 69 ships were ready to operate," he explained.

In terms of dock infrastructure, there are capacity building activities at Pier 1 Merak and Pier 5 Bakauheni.

"We hope that H-14 Pier 1 can operate normally because it is paired with Pier 5 which must also be completed at the same time," he said.

The capacity increase was carried out at Pier 1 Merak from 3,000 GRT to 12,000 GRT. As for Pier 5 Bakauheni, from the original 5,000 GRT to 10,000 GRT.

Meanwhile, the Commercial and Service Director of PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry (Persero) M Yusuf Hadi stated that during the two years of the pandemic, with the current conditions being more relaxed, it must be watched carefully because there was an increase.

"The peak of the homecoming flow is predicted on April 29-30 2022, while the backflow is predicted on May 7-8 2022," he said.

Analysis of supply and demand predictions at Merak-Bakauheni Port, Yusuf said that the average installed capacity supply at Merak and Bakauheni ports is 16,210 mixed vehicles per day.

The average production of the number of mixed vehicles per day during the Command Post is 8,161 units of mixed vehicles and 7,247 units of mixed vehicles at Bakauheni Port.

The installed capacity of production equipment is still above the peak demand of the 2022 Command Post, namely Merak Port by 33 percent and Bakauheni 31 percent above the predicted demand capacity later.

Yusuf added that per day, at Merak Port there are 30 ships operating per day with a projected 124 trips and a small vehicle capacity of 20,995 units and 14,000 units of mixed vehicles.

"For congested conditions, operating vessels have increased to 31 units per day with 128 trips per day, 26,023 small vehicle capacity and 17,421 mixed vehicles," he said.