Minister of Transportation (Menhub) Budi Karya Sumadi said that to solve the problem of queues and congestion at Merak Port, Banten, during the homecoming flow, it is necessary to provide larger shipping vessels. This was conveyed by Budi in response to the long queue of vehicles wanting to cross Bakauheni Port, Lampung, via Merak. Congestion occurs up to 10 kilometers (km).
“So the problem in Merak is that one is required to have a bigger and faster ship. There must be a ship with a speed of more than 15 knots for the crossing and the capacity must also be greater,” said Budi when inspecting the homecoming flow at Pasar Senen Station, Jakarta, Monday. (8/4).
“Secondly, there must be an additional pier. We have discussed it and reported it to the President,” he added.
Apart from that, he said the traffic jam was also caused by the large number of travelers who did not have boat tickets to cross. It is estimated that 28% of ship travelers do not yet have tickets.
“On the train, they buy tickets and arrive two hours beforehand. In this case, there are those who haven’t bought tickets but have been coming since morning. There is a queue of more than 10 km,” he explained.
According to him, effective ways to overcome queues include mitigation so that ships in Bakauheni and Merak are not allowed to load and unload first. He admitted that he had coordinated with the ranks of the TNI/Polri and the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy to overcome the current problem of vehicle queues in Merak. (Z-11)
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