President Yudhoyono wants pleasant Idul Fitri journey

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has called for preparation of necessary infrastructure to make the annual journey home of the 2013 Lebaran holiday travelers as pleasant as possible.

Millions of Indonesians brace for the big homecoming next week for the Idul Fitri festivity, more commonly referred to as Lebaran.

To ensure their travel safety and security, the government is currently checking all transportation sectors, repairing damaged roads, and working on security strategies for the travelers to feel safe and comfortable on their trips during the holiday.

On his Twitter account @SBYudhoyono in Jakarta on Saturday, President Yudhoyono said the government should ensure security for the Lebaran holiday travelers by providing them with safe and comfortable means of transportation.

"My instruction is that the holiday travelers must be safe from criminal acts during their journey home to celebrate Idul Fitri with their family members and relatives," the president said.

Further, he said the government should provide them with good traffic management as well as safe and comfortable means of land, sea, and air transportation.

The head of state noted that the central and regional governments` task is to make a serious effort and to work hard to overcome various obstacles and problems that frequently occur during the holiday mass exodus.

"Good service for the holiday travelers also includes fuel availability, medical act if there is an accident, repair of damaged roads, and smooth flow of traffic," the president said.

To more than 100,000 security officers from the Police and the Armed Forces who will be deployed to maintain the security, the president said they must work hard and effectively round the clock.

Given the fact that the number of police officers is very small compared to the country`s population, the president said the tasks of the police force are very heavy.

Therefore the head of state also urged all public elements across the country to help the police maintain peace and order during the holiday exodus.

Earlier when chairing a cabinet meeting, President Yudhoyono called on all government agencies to prepare themselves to secure and serve Idul Fitri home-bound travelers.

The president then promised that he would check directly the readiness and the performance of the security officers in the field. 

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) spokesman Zainal Abidin said here on Friday that IDI would set up its command posts along the way from Merak in Banten province to Java`s northern highway to provide medical services for the travelers.

"We feel compelled to help provide medical assistance for the holiday travelers by setting up command posts along the way from Merak to the Java`s northern highway as we have done so since 2000s," Zainal Abidin said.

He noted that IDI will post one doctor and several nurses and volunteers at each command post to provide medical services for the riders of motorcycles and private cars.

"At the command posts the travelers will not only have medical assistance but they can also take a rest or get medical consultation," he noted.

According to him, some command posts will even provide professional masseurs to give the weary travelers massage.

Zainal said the command posts will open 24 hours for 14 days since 7 days before Idul Fitri and 7 days after.

Besides, West Java health office will also deploy around 984 doctors, 3,085 nurses and midwives along the northern, central, and southern highways of Java to serve the travelers.

"Last year we deployed 900 doctors and this year we increase the number to 984 to serve the travelers during the holiday exodus," West Java Health Office Chief Alma Lucyati said in Bandung on Tuesday.

She noted that the number of nurses and midwives was also increased from 3,000 last year to 3,085 this year.

According to her, the doctors, nurses and midwives would be posted at command posts, local clinics, and regional hospitals for the travelers who would need health service.

"Thus, if the holiday travelers who happen to have health problem cannot be treated at the command posts or the clinics, will be refereed to regional hospitals," Alma said.

Concerning with the preparation to deal with Lebaran holiday mass exodus this year, Alma said she had made coordination with related parties.

"Yesterday we made a coordination with the regional police, and transportation office to determine which points that will be the location of the command posts," she said. 

Transportation Minister EE Mangindaan said recently that the officials of his ministry were currently checking all transportation sectors for safety.

He said the government had been repairing the broken roads and working on security strategies to ensure the holiday travelers could enjoy their pleasant journey home.

Mangindaan pointed out that his ministry would set up an integrated post on the 7th floor of Manggala building along Merdeka Barat street to monitor the flow of traffic.

He said the number of people who would use the mode of air transportation this year would increase.

"As in previous years, the number of people who will travel by air this year is predicted to increase by 11.7 percent or around 3,756,464 passengers," Mangindaan said.

While for sea transportation, he said the number would increase from 1,585,554 last year to 1,664,832 this year, and that of overland transportation would rise by 3.72 percent from 5,998,162 passengers in 2012 to 6,221,563 passengers this year

Source: ANTARA