Jakarta, April 24, 2020 (ANTARA) - The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
has forced people all over the world to change their way of life, with
many nations imposing a series of restrictions to prevent the spread of
the deadly virus.
Travel enthusiasts have been forced to stay at home with most airways
stopping operations temporarily and many countries and cities
restricting entry of foreigners. Meanwhile, students have been told to
study at home, and employees have taken to working from home.
Indonesian Muslims, who constitute nearly 90 percent of the country’s
population of 270 million, have also been forced to change their
tradition of praying in mosques during the Islamic holy month of
Ramadhan, which began on April 24 this year.
Normally, during this month-long period of fasting, Indonesian Muslims
break their fast at sunset with relatives, friends, or colleagues in
restaurants or hotels, but this year, that has been rendered impossible
due to many restaurants closing or only serving take-away food.
The outbreak of COVID-19 is also set to change festivities in the
post-Ramadhan period, when Muslims head to their hometowns for
celebrating Idul Fitri with relatives.
Every year, there is a mass exodus as millions of people leave big
cities and head to their regional hometowns for Idul Fitri. This exodus
is referred to as ‘mudik’. Last year, around 20 million people embarked
on this post-Ramadhan exodus.
This year, Idul Fitri will fall on May 24 and 25. But, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the Indonesian Government has banned ‘mudik’ and
imposed restriction and sanctions to prevent people from journeying to
their hometowns.
On April 21, 2020, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) announced a ban on ‘mudik’, which came into effect starting April 24.
"At today's meeting, I decided that the ban will be applied on the
‘mudik’ (Idul Fitr exodus) tradition for all citizens," President Jokowi
stated at a virtual meeting to discuss precautionary measures in
connection with the homebound tradition.
The ban is part of efforts to break the chain of COVID-19 transmission,
as the government has imposed large-scale social distancing measures
that include restrictions on the movement of people.
As of April 24, 2020, Indonesia has recorded 7,775 confirmed cases of
COVID-19, with 647 deaths and 960 recoveries. The centers of COVID-19
transmission include Jakarta, several cities in West Java, East Java,
Central Java, and Banten.
A recent survey by the Transportation Ministry showed that 68 percent of
Indonesians have decided not to follow the ‘mudik’ tradition this year,
while 24 percent have insisted on embarking on ‘mudik’, and 7 percent
have already returned to their hometowns.
Just five hours after the ‘mudik’ ban came into effect, the Jakarta
Metropolitan Police forced 1,181 car drivers to turn back from police
checkpoints set up for blocking vehicles on the Jakarta-Cikampek toll
road.
"From 00:00 a.m. to 5 a.m. Western Indonesia Time (on April 24, 2020),
1,181 car drivers were forced to turn back at two blocking locations,"
director of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police's Traffic Division, Sen.
Coms. Sambodo Purnomo, stated.
The checkpoints for stopping vehicles during the enforcement of the
temporary ban on homebound travel were located at Bitung road heading to
Merak and Cikarang Barat road heading to Cikampek, he revealed.
He estimated that 25 thousand cars traveled from Jakarta to Cikampek
through the Cikarang Utama Toll Gate on April 23, and 27 thousand early
on April 24.
Earlier, the Indonesian Transportation Ministry had said the temporary
ban on use of public transportation, private vehicles, and motorbikes
for ‘mudik’ would come into effect at 00:00 WIB on April 24, 2020.
However, the ministry's spokeswoman, Adita Irawati, noted that the
movement of logistics, drugs, officers, fire engines, ambulances, and
hearses has been excluded from the ban, as stipulated in the Minister of
Transportation's Regulation on Transportation Control during the Idul
Fitri 1441 H Mudik.
The regulation bans public vehicles, private vehicles, and motorbikes
from entering and departing from regions implementing Large-Scale Social
Distancing (PSBB) measures and regions demarcated as COVID-19 red
zones, such as Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi.
The ban applies until May 31, 2020, for land transportation; June 15,
2020, for railway transportation; June 8, 2020, for sea transportation;
and June 1, 2020, for air transportation.
"This ban can be extended depending on the situation of the COVID-19 outbreak," she remarked.
The authorities are only restricting access to and from certain areas,
instead of blocking roads, as movement of goods and logistics has been
excluded from the ban.
On March 27, 2020, the Indonesian Government's spokesperson for COVID-19
response, Achmad Yurianto, had highlighted the importance of people not
returning to hometowns to avoid the risk of spreading the contagion to
more regions.
Yurianto had noted the risk of COVID-19 transmission would be much
higher due to close contact between travelers, especially among those
using means of public transportation that are crowded.
To support the ‘mudik' ban, Indonesian railway company PT. Kereta Api
Indonesia (KAI) has decided to cancel several long-distance train trips,
including all trains heading to Jakarta and Bandung as well as
departing from both cities, starting from April 24.
Hence, for Indonesian Muslims, Ramadhan and Idul Fitri this year will not be the same.
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