Jasa Marga Sees Off 1,300 Lebaran Travelers

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - State-owned road construction service PT Jasa Marga saw off 1,300 Eid or Lebaran travelers who would celebrate the Eid festivity in their hometowns here on Sunday.

Before they departed they gathered at the Indonesian Pencak Silat Society premise in Indonesia in Miniature Park (TMII), East Jakarta.

The Eid festivity will be held on Friday next week at the end-of-Ramadan holiday (Lebaran), when millions of people are expected to leave big cities for their hometowns in a tradition popularly known as mudik.

The Transportation Ministry projects that some 20 million people from across the archipelago will travel during this period.

In Jakarta alone, the city's transportation agency predicts there will be an increase in the annual exodus of 14 percent, to 6.5 million people, from the 5.7 million who left the capital for their hometowns last year.

"This joint Eid trip is intended to help people who want to go hometowns so that they should not use two-wheel motor vehicles or getting jostled with each other in public transportation vehicles," PT Jasa Marga's Obedience and Risk Management Achiran Pandu Djajanto said.

Jasa Marga provided 28 buses. "We have 28 buses but 10 of them leaves from Senayan and are seen off by President Joko Widodo, said PT Jasa Marga's chief Spokesman Wasta Gunadi. (WDY)