Jakarta (ANTARA) - Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi confirmed that logistics transport mobility will remain unhindered during the enforcement of level 3 of public activity restrictions (PPKM) to coincide with the 2021 Christmas and 2022 New Year holidays.
“We have prepared the concept for the Christmas and New Year holidays this year. The mobility of logistics transport will not be restricted in a bid to keep economic activities on track,” Sumadi stated during the working meeting with the Commission V of the House of Representatives here on Wednesday.
Based on the survey conducted by his ministry on November, a total of 16 million people will embark on the homecoming exodus, locally know as mudik, during the year-end holidays despite the capacity limits and travel requirement restrictions, he noted.
If the Level 3 PPKM is enforced, mobility will involve some 15 million people. Moreover, if the travel ban is imposed, the movement will potentially involve 10 million people.
“The counts will significantly lead to a surge in COVID-19 cases in the regions,” he noted.
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The government has issued such a policy in an attempt to restrict public movement as a precautionary measure to contain the surge in COVID-19 cases, especially the Omicron variant from abroad, he affirmed.
To this end, the ministry will coordinate with related stakeholders and ensure the preparedness of public transportation facilities during the period, he remarked.
Moreover, the capacity and operational hours for all modes of public transportation facilities will be limited, he added.
The minister spoke of his intent to continue to coordinate with ministries, institutions, regional administrations, National Police (Polri), or Indonesian Military (TNI) to ensure the smooth implementation of the policy.
“We will boost the monitoring of health protocols and the utilization of PeduliLindungi apps. Thus, we will build some checkpoints on the toll roads and other roads,” he remarked.
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