Jakarta (ANTARA) - Several highways in the DKI Jakarta area on Thursday morning or following the demonstrations on May 22 reportedly wore a desolate look, particularly since several offices had banned their employees from coming to work.

In the meantime, the MH Thamrin section was yet closed, and the police had not allowed the entry of any means of public transportation into the street where protesters had ran amok.

According to Antara's monitoring after boarding the Moda Raya Terpadu (MRT) at the Lebak Bulus Jakarta MRT Station on Thursday morning, the passengers were seen entering the station and the security guard had informed of Dukuh Atas MRT Station being the last stop.

Observations showed that lesser passengers were using the MRT than the regular days, as just half the seats were occupied, while several others were yet vacant.

Meanwhile, other modes of transportation, including app-based motorcycle taxis and taxis, continued to operate normally.

However, a taxi driver, who chose to remain anonymous, revealed that owing to the demonstration, a taxi driver, on an average, found it difficult to get passengers, particularly in the main road area of the Capital City, so drivers were reluctant to operate today.

In addition to Jalan MH Thamrin that was closed, access to the Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat road section was shut down, also the location of the Constitutional Court Building, where disputes over the Presidential Election can be brought up.

The Jakarta MRT has reopened the underground MRT Station services, starting from Senayan Station to BNI Dukuh Atas Station, on Thursday morning.

"The underground MRT Station service, starting from Senayan Station to Dukuh Atas Station BNI, was again opened from 8:30 a.m. local time this morning until our next update," Jakarta MRT Corporate Secretary Division Head Muhammad Kamaluddin noted in his official statement here on Thursday.

However, he pointed out that the HI Roundabout Station was yet closed.

"Our top priority is the safety of MRT passengers and the security of our shared MRT infrastructure," he remarked.

Kamaluddin also added that the operational update of the Jakarta MRT for May 23, 2019, starting at 8:30 a.m. local time, from Lebak Bulus Grab to BNI Dukuh Atas Station, passed through 12 MRT stations.



Translator: Eliswan Azly
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2019