"On the birthday of PAN today, we want to share our happiness with the people, particularly the needy ones so that they will be able to observe the 1432 Indul Fitri festivities with their relatives in their home towns," the PAN chairman, who is also chief economic minister, said after bidding a farewell to them here on Tuesday.
The 5,000 travelers were grouped in the "Going Home Towns for Free with PAN" program which was organized in connection with the observance of the 13th birthday of PAN on August 23, 2011.
Hatta saw off the Idul Fitri travelers at the East Parking Lot of Senayan Sports Complex here on Tuesday.
He said that most of the participants in the PAN`s "Mudik Gratis Bareng PAN" (going home for free with PAN) program were daily laborers, workers in the informal sector as well as workers or employees at small businesses. They are the generators of the national economy, he said.
The Idul Fitri D-Day this year is expected to fall on August 30 or 31, 2011.
According to the ministry of transportation, the number of Idul Fitri travelers this year (2011) is estimated at 15.5 million people, up 4.17 percent compared with last year`s 14.9 million.
Travelers going home from Jakarta alone are predicted to reach 7.129 million, up 12.98 percent from last year`s.
Going to one`s home town during the post-fasting Idul Fitri festivities or Lebaran is an annual event in Indonesia where Muslims have family reunions in the respective villages.
(Uu.A014/H-NG/F001)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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