Open 2 Additional Piers At Merak Port, Banten, Minister Of Transportation: There Has Been A Decrease In Vehicle Queues

JAKARTA - The density of vehicles flowing back and forth at Merak Port, Banten, has been observed to have decreased. This was conveyed by the Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumardi after direct monitoring on Saturday, April 30.

According to Budi Karya, this decline occurred after the Ministry of Transportation added two piers at Merak Port, namely Indah Kiat and Ciwadan.

"This afternoon, conditions seem smoother and based on checking at the ASDP Command Post, there has been a decrease in the vehicle queue being shorter," said Budi Karya, as quoted by Antara.

The Minister of Transportation said that apart from the two additional ports, additional ships have also been prepared. At the Ciwandan Pier, nine ships were added and the Indah Kiat Pier was added two ships.

"In Merak, there are already 44 ships. So now there are 53 ships in total," he said.

With the two ports and additional ships, it is claimed to be able to divert around 3,000 passengers so as to break the density in Merak.

Based on ASDP data, the movement of passengers at Merak Port reached around 37,000 vehicles on Friday, or higher than the number of homecoming passengers in 2019 which reached a peak of around 28,000 vehicles a day.

As is known, the public's interest is very high which has resulted in long traffic jams on arteries and toll roads leading to the Merak Ferry Port.