Jokowi: Be Careful, The Number Of Homecomers Is Predicted To Soar 45 Percent

Jokowi (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) reminded all parties to be careful with the flow of Eid al-Fitr 1444 Hijriah or Lebaran 2023. This is because the number of travelers is estimated to have jumped 45 percent to 123 million people in 2023, compared to 86 million people in 2022.

"I remind everyone who wants to go home, be careful, there is a big jump, the number of people going home from 86 million, from the survey to 123 million. This means that there is an increase of approximately 45 percent," said President Jokowi quoting Antara, Tuesday, April 11.

President Jokowi asked all parties to calculate carefully in preparation for homecoming.

To the relevant ministries and non-ministerial institutions as well as state-owned PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry (Persero), President Jokowi has asked in detail about the readiness of Merak Port so that severe density in 2022 does not happen again.

"There have been additional dock ports, namely at BBJ Port (Badar Bakau Jaya) and Ciwandan Port, so passenger capacity moves from 34 thousand jumps to 49 thousand, this is good," said President Jokowi.

President Jokowi also requested that operational management at ports be managed properly, such as the provision of special ports for motorcycles, special ports for cars and small vehicles, as well as special ports for heavy vehicles.

"It's been separated, it's also very good," he said.

At last year's Eid homecoming, President Jokowi reminded that there was a problem with traffic congestion at the access to Jalan Cikuasa Bawah and Cikuasa Atas to Merak Port, as well as a lack of ship capacity.

"But this year's Eid, this year's homecoming flow, we hope that all of that will not happen again," said President Jokowi.

The Head of State also appealed to all passengers who want to cross through the port to order tickets electronically.

"Because last year it was very disturbing who did not hold the ticket, everyone had to hold the ticket before entering Merak Harbor," he said.