The bus was heading to Central Java,Jakarta (ANTARA) - Six passengers of a bus, headed to Central Java’s cities, tried evading security check on homebound travelers by hiding in darkness inside the vehicle cabin though were found by Jakarta Metropolitan Police officers, Wednesday evening.
Five of the six passengers were found lying on their seats, while the other one was hiding inside this inter-provincial bus' toilet facility, Director of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police's Traffic Division Sen. Coms. Sambodo Purnomo Yogo stated on Thursday.
The passengers, which the police officers believed to be homebound travelers after checking their belongings, intentionally switched off the lights in the bus cabin in order to hide themselves.
The bus was stopped by the police officers, who were conducting routine work of "2020 Ketupat Jaya" Operation at the Kedung Waringin checkpoint on Wednesday at around 10 p.m. local time.
As a result, the bus driver was then ordered to go back to Jakarta.
"The bus was heading to Central Java," Yogo noted.
The Kedung Waringin checkpoint is set up to inspect vehicles departing or entering the megapolitan areas of Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi during the enforcement of the government's ban on homebound travels.
In breaking the chain of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the government has officially banned homebound travel, or locally known as "mudik," during the fasting month of Ramadhan and Idul Fitri holiday seasons.
The government officially implemented the “mudik” ban at 00:00 hrs Western Indonesia Time (WIB) on Friday, April 24, 2020. The ban excludes the movement of logistics, drugs, officers, fire engines, ambulances, and hearses.
As stipulated in the Minister of Transportation's Regulation on Transportation Control during the Idul Fitri 1441 H Mudik, public vehicles, private vehicles, and motorbikes are banned 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 will be in place 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.
According to the Public Works and Housing Ministry, the implementation of large-scale social restrictions in Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi has caused a 42-60 percent drop in traffic flows on toll roads within those cities.
"Local movements within the megapolitan areas of Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi as well as freight distributions dominate the flow of traffic," the ministry revealed recently.
Related news: COVID-19 forces change in Indonesia's Ramadhan, Idul Fitri traditions
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Translator: Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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