The Ministry of Transportation supports the ban on the homecoming exodus based on considerations to anticipate a spike in COVID-19 cases. As a follow-up, we are currently drafting transportation control regulations that involve various parties
Jakarta (ANTARA) - House of Representatives (DPR) Deputy Chairman M. Azis Syamsuddin encouraged the Ministry of Transportation to offer incentives to public transportation service companies impacted by the policy of banning the homecoming exodus.

"The policy to prohibit the homecoming exodus if it is not accompanied by regulations related to transportation is feared to be ineffective in suppressing mobilization. On the other hand, this policy inflicts losses on transportation companies. Hence, the DPR encourages the Ministry of Transportation to consider providing incentives to public transportation service companies affected by the policy of prohibiting the homecoming exodus," Syamsuddin noted in a statement on Wednesday.

In addition to incentives, the DPR deputy chairman encouraged the Ministry of Transportation to immediately issue a regulation on prohibiting public transportation operations for homecoming activities.

Syamsuddin highlighted the importance of these rules, so that efforts to suppress community mobilization during the Eid holidays could run effectively.

Moreover, the DPR deputy chairman encouraged the central government, regional government (Pemda), and the Covid-19 Handling Task Force to make the evaluation results of last year's Eid holiday and the start of the new year 2021 as the basis for drafting technical guidelines for the prohibition of the homecoming exodus.

Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi had earlier stated that his party was drafting regulations on transportation control as a follow-up to the ban on the homecoming exodus.

"The Ministry of Transportation supports the ban on the homecoming exodus based on considerations to anticipate a spike in COVID-19 cases. As a follow-up, we are currently drafting transportation control regulations that involve various parties," Sumadi explained.

The minister explained that the rules were drafted through intensive coordination with various ministries and related institutions, especially the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, the Ministry of Health, local governments, and the military and police.

In addition, the Ministry of Transportation refers to the results of a survey on the people's perceptions of travel movements during the Eid al-Fitr period conducted online in March 2021 by the Ministry of Transportation in collaboration with the Bandung Institute of Technology and media institutions.

The survey involved 61,998 respondents working as private employees, 25.9 percent, while the rest comprised civil servants, students, state-owned enterprises, entrepreneurs, housewives, and others.

Based on the survey results, if the homecoming exodus is prohibited, then 89 percent of the people will not go home, while 11 percent will continue to head home or go on vacation.

Sumadi remarked that the Ministry of Transportation estimates the potential number of travelers during a national ban on going home to reach 27.6 million, with most homecoming areas being in Central Java, reaching 37 percent; West Java, 23 percent; and East Java, 14 percent.
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Translator: M Razi, Azis Kurmala
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