Preventing Sea Ship Travelers From Exploding, 2 Supporting Terminals Present At West Bangka Harbor

Homecomers descended from KM Bukit Raya at Tanjung Priok Passenger Port, Jakarta, (Betweens K)

BABEL - West Bangka Regency Government (Pemkab) has prepared two buffer terminals around Tanjungkalian Port. This effort is to support the smooth homecoming of Lebaran 2023 or Eid al-Fitr 1444 Hijriah.

"We will optimize the buffer terminals that already exist in addition to the Tanjungkalian Port area, besides that we are also trying to make the land in front of the ports usable," said West Bangka Regent Sukirman in Mentok, Bangka Belitung Islands Province (Babel), Friday, March 31, confiscated by Antara.

According to him, the preparation of the two locations is a form of the seriousness of the West Bangka Regency Government to help reduce the queues of prospective passengers on the road while waiting for the ferry departure schedule to cross to Sumatra Island during the Lebaran 2023 homecoming period.

"We estimate that the number of travelers during this year's Eid homecoming period will increase compared to the previous year, so we need more mature preparation so that services will increase," he said.

Based on data on the number of passengers going home and back to Eid al-Fitr in the previous year, from April 22 to May 9, 2022, the total number of travelers passing from Tanjungkalian Mentok Port to Tanjung Apiapi Port, South Sumatra was 62,342 people and 10,367 vehicles, both motorbikes, private cars and cargo trucks.

This number increased compared to 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic, where the number of passengers reached 47,991 and the number of vehicles was 9,677 units.

Sukirman explained that the West Bangka Regency Government together with a number of other relevant agencies, including the West Bangka Police, PT ASDP Tanjungkalian Port, KSOP, KKP, Transportation Service and others, had held initial coordination meetings for service preparation.

Based on the results of the coordination meeting, he said, all parties will try to help so that this year's homecoming service will get better, there will be no congestion and efforts to increase the location of the buffer terminal.

General Manager of PT ASDP Tanjungkalian Christopher Samosir predicts an increase in the number of vehicles crossing from Tanjungkalian Port.

"We have to prepare it early because there is a possibility that there will be an increase compared to last year, one of which is by adding a buffer terminal by utilizing the land in front of Tanjungkalian Port," he said.

According to him, the existence of a buffer terminal that was used last year, which is on the right side of Tanjungkalian Port, is not expected to fit in to accommodate vehicles lining up for ferry crossing schedules.

Based on last year's experience with one buffer terminal location, vehicles lining up still fill the highway with queue lengths reaching more than two kilometers.

"There needs to be a change by adding a waiting location to prevent vehicles that are in a row extending on the road so that traffic flow remains smooth and safe," he said.

In addition to efforts to increase the capacity of vehicle waiting facilities, he said, ASDP Tanjungkalian Port will also coordinate so that large ferries can operate so that the transport capacity of each trip will increase.

Following up on the results of cross-sector meetings, West Bangka Deputy Regent Bong Ming Ming together with the Head of the West Bangka Tourism and Culture Office M. Ali also conducted a survey in the Baturakit Mentok Beach area which could be used as an alternative if there were quite a lot of queues of vehicles during the Eid homecoming period later.

The Baturakit Beach area, which has been managed by the local Regency Tourism and Culture Office, has a fairly large land and is expected to accommodate up to 100 private vehicles, besides that the location of the tourist area is also not too far from the Tanjungkalian Port area.

With various preparations being made, it is hoped that the Eid al-Fitr 1444 Hijri homecoming service can be better and the travelers will be more comfortable while waiting for the crossing schedule at Tanjungkalian Port.