President Jokowi Orders His Administration to Improve Mudik Management

Ahead of Eid al-Fitr, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo ordered his administration to optimally manage this year’s annual exodus (mudik) to ensure a safe and comfortable mudik for the people.

“I would like to make sure that everything will hopefully run smoothly and the people will receive good services. No one should be on the road for too long, be at the port for too long, deal with congestion,” the President said at the limited meeting on the 2023 mudik preparation on the sidelines of his working visit to Merak Port, Cilegon city, Banten province, Tuesday (04/11).

Based on the implementation of the previous mudik flow, several aspects need to be improved, one of which is the management of passengers at Merak Port.

“The most notable issue is the management of passengers at the Merak Port and toll roads. Therefore, in detail, those who work on the ground must really understand, so that the management of the mudik flow can be improved from that of last year,” he said.

The President also expressed appreciation for the improvements that have been made at the Merak Port, such as the addition of docks and the separation of passenger and logistics docks. He mentioned that this addition will significantly increase the capacity of the dock, from 34 thousand to 49 thousand passengers.

“The addition of capacity and the addition of the port’s docks are very important. I also observed that the management is very detailed, such as which dock is used for heavy vehicles, which dock is used for motor vehicles, and which dock is used for small vehicles and buses,” he said.

On passengers traveling through toll roads, the President called on his administration to ensure readiness, including the availability of rest areas.

“In addition to Merak [Port], also related to toll roads. I see a very disheartening number of rest areas last year, the number has also increased,” he said.

President Jokowi also ordered related officials to check the mudik readiness in detail and on the ground to anticipate the surge of passengers. The President said that based on a survey conducted by Ministry of Transportation, the number of mudik travelers in 2023 is estimated to increase from 86 million in 2022 to 123 million.

“In addition to Ministry of Transportation, the National Police, and the Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI), I order the State-owned Enterprise (SOE) [officials], governors, regents, and mayors to really observe on the ground to see the problems in detail so that they can deal with them directly. I cannot imagine. The jump from 86 million to 123 million is not easy to manage. It needs preparation. It needs proper planning and design,” he remarked. (TGH/UN) (FI/MMB)