No COVID-19 Restrictions, Travelers To West Sumatra Are Predicted To Increase Four Prisons

West Sumatra Governor Mahyeldi chaired a meeting to anticipate traffic jams in the Eid holiday in Padang. (ANTARA)

PADANG - With the absence of COVID-19 restrictions, the West Sumatra Provincial Government (West Sumatra) predicts that migrants returning home and tourists visiting the area on the 1444 Hijri/2023 Eid Holiday will increase four times from 2022.

"In 2022, the number of travelers and tourists who come to West Sumatra is around 1.8 million people. This year is predicted to increase four times, therefore preparations must be really mature," said the Governor of West Sumatra, Mahyeldi, quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, April 6.

He said the increase was driven by the absence of restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic so that travelers and tourists were more free to return to their hometowns.

According to him, the spike will have both positive and negative consequences. From the economic sector, there will be more money turnover. If last year the total circulation of money reached Rp. 3 trillion during the Eid holiday, then this year it could reach Rp. 10 trillion.

However, the possibility of congestion due to buildup in tourist destinations, intersections to spilled markets will also increase. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare a clear system to anticipate it.

"The plan for this traffic will be one-way engineering. This is expected to be one solution," he said.

Waste and security issues are also highlighted by Governor Mahyeldi because these two things also affect the comfort of migrants and tourists during their visit to West Sumatra.

Meanwhile, Assistant II of the West Sumatra Provincial Secretariat, Wardarusmen, said that travelers entering West Sumatra will be dominated by air and land routes.

For air routes through the gates of Minangkabau International Airport (BIM), the comparison of the number of flights this year is predicted to increase because it will experience a 4-fold increase in aircraft passenger arrivals to BIM compared to 2022.

"If in 2022 the number of travelers coming through BIM reaches 24 thousand, then now it can reach more than 100 thousand. Therefore, it takes support and readiness of PT Angkasa Pura II BIM Branch," he said.

Meanwhile, by land, travelers returning home also reached four times compared to last year. Homecomers will be dominated by Pekanbaru, Jambi and Jakarta. In fact, there are also migrant visits from Agam from Malaysia as many as two thousand people who will return together on this year's Eid.

"This is the obligation of the local government to provide the best service. The more people come, it is hoped that a lot of money will be brought to West Sumatra," he said.

With the spike in travelers during Eid this year, anticipatory steps to overcome congestion, cleanliness and security are carried out, by learning from the experience during Eid Al-Fitr homecoming in 2022.

Head of the West Sumatra Provincial Transportation Service (Dishub), Dedy Diantaolani, said that severe traffic jams in Lebaran in 2022 are lessons to anticipate the same incident in 2023.

He said that since the beginning, the West Sumatra Provincial Government and related parties had mapped the congestion points and found solutions, including engineering the flow of traffic and placement of officers.

Dedy revealed that for traffic, lanes that are very prone to traffic are located on the Padang-Bukittinggi-Limapuluh Kota-Payakumh route. There are also Pesisir Selatan and Solok routes.

Especially for Padang-Bukittinggi, with a distance of about 70 kilometers, it is predicted that the travel time will reach 8 to 9 hours during Eid. This happens because there are a number of locations prone to congestion.

"On the Padang-Payakumbuh route, there are 25 congestion points. Namely Padang Pariaman, there are five points. Padang Panjang has three points, Tanah Datar has six points, Agam has six points. In Limapuluh Kota there are two points. Meanwhile, in Bukittinggi during Eid, there will be traffic jams at all points," he said.

In Solok Regency, the point prone to traffic jams is in the Singkarak Lake Pier area. Meanwhile in Solok City at Simpang Salayo