JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesia’s Ministry of Transportation has stepped up its efforts to ensure the safety of passengers travelling to and from their hometowns for the Idul Adha (Islamic Day of Sacrifice) celebrations on July 31.
Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi has ensured that people could carry on with their travel plans amid the Covid-19 pandemic but must strictly comply with health protocols.
The ministry works closely with other relevant agencies such as the police, the regional transportation departments, and transportation operators to monitor the movement of people and the flow of vehicles.
“We have made preparations in all transportation network nodes, on roads, toll roads, and in tourist areas in anticipation of an increase in vehicles due to the upcoming three-day holiday weekends,” Budi said in a statement on July 29.
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The ministry has also asked operators to maintain safe public transport. Furthermore, Budi is committed to ensuring public transport is safe and adheres to the health and safety protocols to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
He said that such measures have been implemented in the transportation sector since the beginning of the transitional phase which is also known as ‘adapting to new habits’ following the issuance of Ministerial Regulations No. 41/2020 on transportation control to prevent the spread of Covid-10 on June 8.
In terms of criteria and travel requirements of people, he said, the ministry is referring to Circular No. 9/2020 dealing with the rules for people intending to travel which was issued by the Covid-19 Response Acceleration Task Force.
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“We are trying to build public trust so they will feel confident when using public transport such as buses, trains, planes, and ships,” said the minister, who has recovered from Covid-19 infection in April.
When using public transport, he reminded the public to remain disciplined in implementing health protocols including wearing masks and face shields, keeping a distance, washing hands, and carrying a valid medical document such as rapid test or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) health certificate.
(Writer: Rully R. Ramli | Editor: Yoga Sukmana)
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