POLICE RECORD FEWER TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS DURING IDUL FITRI EXODUS By Fardah

       Jakarta, Sept 13, 2010 (ANTARA) - Police throughout Indonesia have stepped up their monitoring as millions of Idul Fitri travelers are hitting the roads again in a reverse Idul Fitri exodus.
       The government has estimated the number of travelers celebrating Idul Fitri or Lebaran post-fasting festivities in their hometowns this year at 15.5 million.
       Some 89,521 police personnel have been deployed and 2,592 security posts have been set up across the country during "Operation Ketupat" to monitor home-bound and in-bound travelers making long journeys to be with their families on the occasion of Idul Fitri, which fell on September 10, 2010.

       The security posts have been set up in areas considered prone to traffic accidents and criminal offenses.
       Police are conducting a 16-day operation code-named "Operation Ketupat 2010" from September 3 to 18, by cooperating with relevant ministries, to ensure public security during the post-fasting festivity.
       Five areas have received priority attention during the operations, namely traffic flows, traffic accidents, crimes, center of public activities and weather conditions.
        To help monitor spot traffic jams, the National Integrated Transportation Center has installed more than 20 big screens showing footage from hundreds of cameras scattered across the nation.
       Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi said early September that his ministry has identified 78 areas prone to traffic jams in the country, mainly due to activities of traders and buyers at casual markets along certain roads and unfinished road constructions.
        Head of the Public Relations Division at the National Police Headquarters Brig. Gen. Iskandar Hasan said in Jakarta, Saturday (Sept 12), at least 182 people were killed in traffic accidents across the country eight days after Operation Ketupat.
        "Since the Ketupat Operations were launched the number of traffic accidents has reached 927," he said.

He said 261 people sustained serious injuries and 497 others light injuries in the traffic accidents.

If the figure does not change drastically in the few coming days, it means that the country has witnessed a significantly drop in the number of traffic accidents and fatalities during this year`s Idul Fitri exodus, compared to last year.

In 2009, 702 people were killed, 859 seriously injured and 1,697 lightly injured in 1,646 road accidents a few days before and after Idul Fitri festivities throughout Indonesia.

Nearly 75 percent of the traffic accidents involved motorcyclists.

"Most of the accidents occurred on Java`s northern coastal road and alternative roads," he said.

"Most of the homeward travelers come from Java but the number of homeward travelers from Sumatra, Sulawesi and Kalimantan is also quite large," Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi said after inspecting the Merak ferry port in Banten province, recently.

Fewer traffic accidents were also reported in some regions.

In Cimahi, West Java, Adjunct Commissioner Eka Permatasari, head of the Cimahi Police`s traffic unit, said Monday (Sept 13), there had been five traffic accidents with five fatalities up to three days after Idul Fitri.

The number of traffic accidents had declined 75 percent compared to 20 accidents up to D+3 last year, she said.

"We hope there will be no more accidents during the reverse flow of Idul Fitri travelers. At every traffic police post, we always remind travelers to drive carefully," she said.

Driving on the highways in the region had become more risky as heavy rains had been falling almost every day lately, Eka said.

The Cimahi police have identified 12 points that are prone to traffic accidents in West Bandung District. The district also has areas which are prone to landslides, and floods.

In Bengkulu Province, Sumatra Island, traffic accidents have injured 74 people and killed three others, up to three days after Idul Fitri (D+3).

M Yunus General Hospital in Bengkulu had received 77 victims of traffic accidents up to D+3, a sharp decline compared to hundreds in the same period last year, Desmiati Girsang, head of the hospital`s emergency unit, said here Monday.

Last year in the same period of the Idul Fitri exodus, tens of people were killed in traffic accidents, he said.

Deputy Director of M Yunus General Hospital Yanuar said most of those injured or killed on the roads were motorbikers.

In Southeast Sulawesi, Sulawesi Island, local police have recorded only 12 traffic accidents with two deaths in the province up to three days after Idul Fitri Islamic festivity this year, a sharp decline compared to last year.

"The number of traffic accidents is lower than in the same period last year," said Fahrurrozi, a spokesman of the Southeast Sulawesi Police, here Monday.

He believed that better public awareness of traffic regulations had helped minimize the number of traffic accidents.

The provincial police have recorded a total of 295 traffic violations during the recent Idul Fitri exodus.

"Motorbikers made more violations than car drivers," he said.

The Southeast Sulawesi Police have deployed 1,914 personnel during "Operation Ketupat" from 54 command posts throughout the province up to September 18, 2010, he said.

In Tolitoli, Central Sulawesi, of 15 traffic accidents, 13 have involved those riding motorcycles, up to three days after Idul Fitri which fell on September 10, according to Tolitoli Police.

Two people had been killed in the accidents, which had mostly occurred outside Tolitoli city during the Idul Fitri exodus, First Inspector Sunaryo, the Tolitoli Police`s traffic unit head, said. Meanwhile, two others are still in critical conditions and being treated in a local hospital.

Police have been guarding accident-prone areas such as Trans Sulawesi highway, Sandan, Lalos, Kombo, Laulalang, and Kilometer empat.

In the capital city of Jakarta, the Jakarta Police had recorded a total of 3,133 traffic violations and 77 accidents from D-Day minus seven to D-Day minus three (prior to Idul Fitri).

"Seventeen home-bound travelers got tickets. The violations were dominated by motorcycles, buses, metro mini buses, private cars, trucks, and pick-up cars," Senior Commissioner Condro Kirono, director of the Jakarta Traffic Police office, said in Jakarta last Wednesday (Sept. 8).

The acts of violations included riding motorbikes without wearing helmets, crossing the red lights and road markings, picking up and dropping off passengers not in the proper places.

This year, the traffic accidents went down to 77 cases from 96 cases in 2009.

In the same period, some 19 people were killed on Jakarta roads, 27 others were seriously injured and 51 slightly wounded.

In 2009, 17 people were killed in traffic accidents in the capital city, 38 were seriously wounded and 61 mildly injured.

Over the past five days, the Jakarta police have recorded 2,196 violations committed by motorists, significantly down from 6,289 in the same period last year.

Some 681 motorbikers were given tickets for not wearing helmets, a big decrease from 2,095 violators in 2009.

Up to a week since Operation Ketupat 2010, the number of traffic violations were recorded at 20,849 with 18,653 motorists ticketed in the country. ***1***

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(T.F001/A/F001/A/H-YH) 13-09-2010 18:55:04