Until now, the Ketupat Candi Operation has run smoothly, and there is no significant incidentSemarang, C Java (ANTARA) - As many as 463 vehicles were forced to turn back in the past two days, as the Central Java Police blocked the entry to the province during the Ketupat Candi 2020 Operation, following the implementation of the annual exodus (mudik) ban to contain the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
A spokesman of the Central Java Police Senior Commissioner Iskandar F Sutisna said here on Sunday, hundreds of cars were forced to turn back to their departure points when they passed 13 check points established in the toll as well as non-toll roads.
Among the check points in toll roads are established in the exit gate of Brebes and Sragen Toll Road.
According to Sutisna, the police has 277 surveillance posts in the province established in the entry points for homebound travellers.
The police has also checked body temperature of travellers passing the posts.
"Until now, the Ketupat Candi Operation has run smoothly, and there is no significant incident," he said.
Earlier on Thursday (April 23) the Indonesian Transportation Ministry had hinted that the temporary ban on using public transportation, private vehicles, and motorbikes for annual exodus (mudik) to celebrate Eid al-Fitr would come into effect on Friday, April 24, at 00:00 WIB.
However, the ministry's spokeswoman Adita Irawati, noted that the transportation of logistics, drugs, officers, fire engines, ambulances, and hearses were excluded from the ban, as stipulated in the Minister of Transportation's Regulation on Transportation Control during the Eid al-Fitr 1441 H Mudik.
The regulation was issued to follow up on a decision made during a limited cabinet meeting chaired by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) on Tuesday (April 21).
The regulation bans public vehicles, private vehicles, and motorbikes from entering and departing from regions enacting the Large Scale Social Distancing (PSBB) measures and regions demarcated as COVID-19 red zones, such as Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi.
The ban applies until May 31, 2020, for land transportation; June 15, 2020, for railway transportation; June 8, 2020, for sea transportation; and June 1, 2020, for air transportation.
"This ban can be extended depending on the situation of the COVID-19 outbreak," she remarked.
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Translator: Immanuel Citra S, Sri Haryati
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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