Is it a surprise that many travelers have tried to violate the mudik ban since it went into effect last Friday? In the past three days, police officers have reportedly turned away more than 4,000 vehicles trying to leave the capital.
The Jakarta Metro Police Traffic Directorate says it recorded thousands vehicles that were turned away at the road checkpoints set up to monitor traffic in and out of the Greater Jakarta area, which comprise Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi (Jabodetabek).
"There were 4,041 vehicles that were asked to turn back from Friday to Sunday. Most of them were private vehicles," Sambodo Purnomo Yogo, who heads the traffic directorate, told CNN Indonesia today.
Sambodo said the data were derived from Bitung toll gate in the direction of Merak Sea Port in Banten and West Cikarang toll gate in the direction of West Java. There were 1,873 vehicles that were turned away on Friday, followed by 1,293 on Saturday and 875 on Sunday.
While the violators did not receive punishment for trying to leave Jakarta, which has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the country, police are set to enforce penalties starting May 7.
The Transportation Ministry announced last week that both public transportation and private vehicles are forbidden from leaving and entering areas with high COVID-19 caseloads.
However, essential vehicles such as those carrying logistics or ambulances are exempt from the ban.
The mudik ban for motorized vehicles will last until May 31. The policy has also ceased public transport by sea and rail to June 8 and June 15, respectively. Air transport throughout the country has been suspended until June 1, although the ministry has recently clarified that international commercial flights are still operating out of Indonesian airports.
The vast majority of Indonesians who go on mudik – which regularly sees up to 30 million people returning to their hometowns from big cities for the Eid holiday – travel by private vehicles or buses.
The holy fasting month of Ramadan begins on the evening of Thursday, April 23, while Eid is expected to fall a month after that.