Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Transportation Ministry opened the coordination center of transportation for Christmas Eve and New Year celebrations for on-time monitoring of several locations considered prone to overcrowding and congestion during the year-end holidays.

"Similar to the Lebaran (Eid al-Fitr) holiday, we also prepared a post to monitor the density of homecoming flow by involving several other stakeholders, such as Pertamina, BMKG, the Police, and Jasa Marga," Director General of Land Transportation of the Ministry of Transportation Budi Setiyadi informed the press in Jakarta on Thursday.

The coordination center was located at the Ministry of Transportation Office, Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta, and will operate from December 19, 2019, to January 6, 2020.

Through the post, the authorities could continue to conduct round-the-clock monitoring of the traffic density of vehicles and people.

If congestion or density is considered to interfere with movement, immediate action can be taken.

Setiyadi stated that the post will also have a call center 151 to facilitate the public to submit information and complaints on congestion, natural disasters, as well as information on transportation

"The public can participate in providing information by calling the call center 151 to which our officers will respond," Setiyadi remarked.

Makassar, Balikpapan, Gilimanuk, Ngurah Rai Airport, Kualanamu Airport, and Ketapang Port are the different monitored locations.

Setiyadi stated that the monitoring posts were decided to be built not only in locations on the island of Java but also several areas outside Java.

"All locations that can potentially be overcrowded will be the concern of the Ministry of Transportation," he remarked.

After formalizing the use of the post, Director General Budi Setiyadi had the opportunity to hold a long-distance conference with several officials in the area to gain more details on the development of the homecoming flow.

Since this discussion, on Thursday (Dec 19), the vehicular and passenger density had not increased. The surge is estimated to occur on December 20-21, 2019.

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Translator: Ahmad Wijaya, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Sri Haryati
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