People Are Enthusiastic To Participate In The Ministry Of Transportation's Free Homecoming By Ship

The atmosphere inside the KM Dobonsolo passenger deck used for the free motorbike homecoming program (ANTARA/Adimas Raditya)

JAKARTA - Homecoming travelers claim to be enthusiastic about participating in the free motorbike homecoming program on ships initiated by the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub).

"Alhamdulillah, it really helped me, because taking a car is expensive," said Ngatmi (50), a resident of Cengkareng, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, April 26.

Ngatmi also took advantage of the free homecoming facility carried out by PT Pelayaran Nasional Indonesia (Persero) to go to his hometown in Semarang, Central Java.

According to him, the free homecoming program organized by the government is very helpful for people whose economy is still affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The woman from Salatiga, Central Java will also take advantage of the free homecoming to return to Jakarta, on Thursday (12/5).

In line with this, Wardi (47) also felt helped by the free motorbike homecoming.

"If you use your own costs, it is very expensive for bus tickets, especially since the prices have gone up," said the man who migrated to the Tegal Alur area, West Jakarta.

Through the homecoming facility for passengers and two-wheeled vehicles, he will use it to move around in the destination city, namely Semarang.

He also hopes that the government and state-owned companies will continue to organize a free homecoming program in the coming years.

"Usually they continue, but two years ago they couldn't. I hope that next year they will still be there because it helps and helps," he said.

PT Pelni officially dispatched KM Dobonsolo for the free motorbike homecoming program starting from Tanjung Priok Port, Jakarta, on Tuesday (26/4).

KM Dobonsolo will sail the route of Tanjung Priok - Semarang - Surabaya - Makassar - BauBau - Ambon - Sorong - Serui - Jayapura (PP).

There were 1109 passengers and 388 motorbikes who took advantage of the free motorbike homecoming program using KM Dobonsolo.

Pelni deployed KM Dobonsolo and KM Ciremai to support the implementation of the 2022 motorbike free homecoming program initiated by the Ministry of Transportation.

The first departure was with KM Dobonsolo today, Tuesday (26/4) and then KM Ciremai, on Friday 29 April.

Meanwhile, for the return flow of free motorbikes, starting from Surabaya on Monday (9/5) with KM Ciremai and then KM Dobonsolo on Wednesday (11/5).

KM Ciremai and KM Dobonsolo are ships with a capacity of 2,000 pax with type 3 in 1.

The ship can not only carry passengers, but can also transport goods and vehicles.