The figure is the highest daily record during the 24-day operation Ketupat 2020.Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Jakarta Metropolitan Police stopped 2,225 Eid al-Fitr homebound travelers from leaving Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi (Jabodetabek) to head to Central Java, East Java, and Sumatra under the so-called Operation Ketupat 2020.
In addition, 377 private cars-turned-tourist vehicles were detained since they were carrying homebound travelers, Traffic Director of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police Senior Commissioner Sambodo Purnomo Yogo noted in Jakarta on Thursday
"The measure once again confirms the government's ban on homecoming trips," he remarked.
Sambodo had earlier projected a peak in homecoming trips on Wednesday night, five days ahead of the Eid al-Fitr festivities expected to fall on Sunday, May 24, and Monday, May 25.
On Wednesday night, the police turned back some four thousand vehicles in the West Cikarang area.
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"The figure is the highest daily record during the 24-day Operation Ketupat 2020,” he remarked.
During the operations, passengers, who came under the police’s net, were taken to the Pulo Gebang Terminal in East Jakarta, while their vehicles were parked at the West Cikarang Security Post.
Drivers of the cars were ticketed during the operation. They are charged with violating article 3028 of Traffic Law No. 22 of 2009. If found guilty, they could be fined Rp500 thousand and sentenced to five months' imprisonment.
To break the chain of transmission 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.
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Translator: Devi Nindy Sari Ramadhan/Suhar
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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