The people in Sumatra arrived at Bakauheni Port in buses, private cars, and motorbikes.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - After celebrating Idul Fitri or the Lebaran festive season in their hometowns and villages, thousands of people have started returning to their workplaces in Jakarta and elsewhere through ferry ports, bus terminals, and airports.

Since Sunday until Monday morning, thousands of returning Lebaran holidaymakers were seen thronging the ferry ports of Bakauheni in Lampung and Merak in Banten.

The good times spent by sharing joy with family members and relatives in their hometowns during the 2015 Idul Fitri last Friday and Saturday have come to an end, and now, the holidaymakers must return to the cities where they work.

As of Monday morning, Bakauheni ferry port and Merak port were still crowded with returning holiday travelers leaving Sumatra for Java Island, three days after the end of the Lebaran festivities.

Operations Manager of the Bakauheni branch of state-owned inland waterway transportation service PT ASDP Heru Purwanto stated that since Sunday until Monday morning, the returning holidaymakers continued to pour into Bakauheni port to be transported to Merak port in Banten.

"The people in Sumatra arrived at Bakauheni Port in buses, private cars, and motorbikes. After being transported to Merak port, they will then travel to their respective workplaces in Java," Heru remarked.

He pointed out that between Sunday and Monday morning, thousands of motorcycles, private cars, buses, and trucks had been transported from Bakauheni to Merak.

"However, thousands more are still expected to arrive at Bakauheni port in the next few days," he stated.

Heru revealed that during the Lebaran mass exodus, a total of 381,845 travelers from Sumatra have crossed Sunda Strait to Java for Eid through Bakauheni Port.

"So, they are expected to return from Java through Merak port and arrive back at Bakauheni today and in the next couple of days," he added.

In the meantime, spokesman of the Merak branch of PT ASDP Mario Sardadi Oetomo remarked that the company was operating 27 Roll On-Roll Off (Ro-Ro) ships to serve the returning Lebaran holiday travelers this year.

"We are operating 27 Ro-Ro ships to anticipate an increasing flow of returning Lebaran holiday travelers," Oetomo said in Merak on Sunday.

According to the spokesman, Ro-Ro ship service between Merak and Bakauheni ports has so far been running smoothly, as the weather at Sunda strait is relatively normal and conducive.

Lebaran holidaymakers returning after the festivities since Sunday until Monday morning have caused traffic snarls along the Trans-Sumatra Highway, which stretches from Aceh to Lampung, to Bakauheni ferry port, and from the port to Bandarlampung and the other areas in Sumatra.

Based on the observation at several points along the highway on Sunday, the reverse flow of travelers to Bakauheni port was dominated by private cars and motorcycles.

In the next couple of days, lengthy delays are expected on the Trans-Sumatra Highway, as thousands of people will head back after the 2015 Lebaran festive season.

The holidaymakers returning from their hometowns both to Java and Sumatra islands opted to leave earlier to evade crowds at the Bakauheni port in Lampung and Merak port in Banten.

The reverse flow of travelers from Java to Sumatra has been observed at Merak port on Sunday morning, but they were not as high as the number of vehicles passing from Sumatra to Java.

Meanwhile, from Saturday through Monday, Rajabasa bus terminal in Lampung was seen crowded with people from various cities in Sumatra, leaving for Jakarta, Bandung, and other major cities in Java.

The traffic of returning holidaymakers might have peaked on Tuesday, but the heavy flow of passengers could continue until the end of the school holidays on Saturday and Sunday.

Thus, several holiday travelers are likely to throng the Rajabasa bus terminal until Sunday.

The number of returning Lebaran holiday travelers at Kalideres bus terminal in West Jakarta on Monday morning was still quite low, but it is expected to soar on Tuesday until Saturday.

The terminals Inter-city Inter-province (AKAP) Bus Service spokesman Iwan Rukiadi stated on Sunday that a surge in passenger flow will occur on Tuesday, as it is the last day of collective leaves for civil servants who will start work on Wednesday.

"However, we predict that the holiday travelers returning from their hometowns through the Kalidres bus terminal will peak on Saturday and Sunday, as it is the end of the school holidays," Iwan remarked.

According to Iwan, thousands of passengers from cities in Sumatra will arrive at the bus terminal in West Jakarta where they will return to their places of work in Jakarta, West, Central, and East Java.

Iwan stated that around 45 thousand returning holiday travelers will arrive at Kalidres bus terminal on Saturday and Sunday to return to their workplaces.

"Starting from Monday afternoon until late at night, we expect even more number of passengers to depart from here to the cities in West Java, Central Java, and East Java," Iwan remarked at Kalideras bus terminal on Sunday.

In the meantime, more than two thousand holiday travelers are estimated to have returned to Jakarta on Sunday through the Halim Perdanakusuma airport in East Jakarta.

"According to our forecast, over two thousand incoming air passengers are expected to arrive through the Halim Perdanakusuma airport today," airport management company PT Angkasapura II Operations Manager Ibut Astono noted on Sunday.
(T.O001/INE/KR-BSR)

Reporter: Otniel Tamindael
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2015