The vice president arrived at the location at 14.45 accompanied by Coordinating Minister for People`s Welfare Agung Laksono and Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi.
The vice president started his tour of Merak port by checking the ticket sales counter. After that, the vice president and his entourage checked conditions inside the Jatra I, a ferry boat carrying 463 passengers and 84 vehicles.
"Overall the preparations at Merak port for the homebound holiday season this year are good. Hopefully, the services will also run smoothly on D-day," he said.
Boediono expressed hope homebound travelers would safely reach their hometowns and celebratethe Idul Fitri holiday with their relatives.
Meanwhile, the flow of Idul Fitri travelers at Bakauheni port in Lampung toward Merak had not shown a significant surge on Wednesday or six days before D-Day.
Based on ANTARA`s observation at the port, the number of passengers and vehicles (at piers I to V) that wanted to cross from Sumatra to Java on Wednesday was still normal.
But the Bakauheni branch of the Inland Waterway Transportation Service (ASDP) was focusing the flow of travelers through pier II since early Wednesday to smooth the crossing process.
All vehicles, passengers, motorcyclists, private buses and trucks of various types could directly go on the ferries to be transported to Merak port in Java.
Since Tuesday until Wednesday morning, the number of vehicles of various types crossing from Bakauheni port in Lampung (Sumatra) to Merak in Java was recorded at 4,150.
They consisted of 513 two-wheel vehicles, 2,038 private cars, 460 passenger buses, 1,462 trucks of various types.
"The number of passengers in the public vehicles reached 24,348 while passengers in provate cars stood at 2,525," Heru Purwanto, operations manager of PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry for Bakauheni, said.
He said that the number of passengers on vehicles had increased significantly.
The number of roll-on-roll-off (Roro) ships put into operation was 29 with 95 trips per day, he said.
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.
(Uu.A051/HAJM/F001)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
