JAKARTA: Indonesia has banned the annual Ramadan exodus of city dwellers to their hometowns in a move hailed by medical professionals struggling with a surge in coronavirus infections in the country.
The ban, announced by President Joko Widodo in a teleconference Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, follows a transport ministry survey showing that 68 percent of people had decided to cancel their homecoming at the end of Ramadan, while 24 percent still planned on traveling and 7 percent had already left.
“It means there is still a very big percentage of people willing to travel,” Widodo said.
“After we issued a travel ban for civil servants, military, police and employees of state-owned enterprises, I want to announce that we will ban mudik (the annual exodus) altogether,” he said.
Dr. Daeng Faqih, president-elect of the Indonesian Doctors Association, welcomed the decision, saying the ban would stop the “uncontrollable” spread of coronavirus by young travelers, who could infect their parents and other elderly people in areas where health care facilities are scarce.
“The ban will also prevent the potential for a second wave of infections when travelers return to the greater Jakarta area after Eid,” Faqih told Arab News on Wednesday.
In late March, the association urged the president to impose the ban, but Widodo said that he was merely advising people against travel, while one of his chief ministers, Luhut Pandjaitan, said that allowing people to travel would help maintain some economic activity.
FASTFACT
Hard-pressed doctors welcome move as Jakarta becomes infection ‘red zone.’
Virus-stricken Jakarta is at the center of Indonesia’s coronavirus outbreak and along with its suburbs has become an infection “red zone.”
Indonesia has recorded more than 7,400 cases up till Wednesday — more than half in Jakarta.
Every year, millions of people travel from the capital and other major cities to their hometowns to celebrate Eid with their families. Most travel takes place on the island of Java — home to 141 million people and the capital Jakarta. According to the transport ministry, about 18 million people journeyed home during the “mudik” season in 2019.
Indonesia Transport Society Chairman Agus Taufik Mulyono told Arab News that the official ban will reinforce appeals by religious leaders to avoid returning home.
Mulyono called for added controls on transport to strengthen the ban.
“To make the ban more effective, the government should also suspend intercity buses and other modes of mass transportation, and restrict access to fuel to vehicles that transport basic goods,” he said.
