During the past three days there have been about 70 thousand vehicles that we have asked to turn backJakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Police turned back some 70 thousand vehicles from 381 check points across the country, including Sumatra and Bali, on the third day of the Eid al-Fitr homecoming travel ban under the Operation Ketupat 2021, to stem the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, Head of the Indonesian Police's Traffic Corps Inspector General Istiono said.
"Nationally, the security and traffic situation is running safely and smoothly," he said here on Saturday night.
He was accompanied by the Head of Metro Jaya Regional Police Inspector General of Police Fadil Imran, the Head of Traffic Corps' Operation Division Senior Commissioner Rudy Antariksawan, Traffic Director of Metro Jaya Regional Police Senior Commissioner Sambodo Purnomo as well as the Head of Public Relations for Metro Jaya Regional Police Senior Commissioner Yusri Yunus when monitoring the Blockage Point at kilometer 31 of the West Cikarang Toll Gate, in Bekasi.
Istiono explained that during the three days of the operation, the police had asked about 70 thousand more vehicles that didn't meet the travel requirements or indicated to be carrying out homecoming activities to return to their initial departure points.
"During the past three days there have been about 70 thousand vehicles that we have asked to turn back. In general, everything is running safely and smoothly," he said.
He also stated that the volume of the vehicles leaving Jakarta continued to decline, both for vehicles bound for Java and those bound for Sumatra. Vehicles leaving Jakarta are dominated by those transporting logistics and goods.
"Currently, the volume of the vehicles going to Java has decreased by 73 percent. Then, the vehicles bound for Bandung, West Java, have dropped 78.3 percent," he said.
The vehicles bound for Sumatra has decreased by 43.3 percent and they were dominated by logistics or goods vehicles. The number of vehicles turned back was 10,869.
Meanwhile, Inspector General Fadil Imran, who also inspected the blockage point at kilometer 31 of the West Cikarang toll road said that in the jurisdiction of the Metro Jaya Regional Police, 6,500 vehicles had been asked to return to their initial departure points, as there were indications of homecoming activities.
"For the Metro Jakarta Police area, a total of 6,500 vehicles have been asked to turn back towards Jakarta. The number of vehicles passing through the toll road was approximately 3,585 vehicles. Meanwhile, other vehicles passed through the arterial route, both two-wheeled and four-wheeled vehicles," he explained.
Imran appealed people to refrain from doing homecoming activities in order to follow government policies. The policy, which was implemented from May 6-17, aims to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
"This is indeed something that's not easy. However, this is for the best in order to break the chain of transmission of COVID-19. We must all participate so that the COVID-19 pandemic could be quickly overcome," the inspector general remarked.
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Translator: Laily Rahmawaty, Katriana
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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