East Java Tourism News

Bus, ship passenger numbers down

Alfian, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Transportation Ministry’s data shows numbers of bus and ship passengers during the Idul Fitri holiday this year decreased but train passenger numbers barely changed.

The sea transportation directorate general was still counting its total number of passengers for the annual holiday but said the provisional number stood at more than 373,000 passengers compared to last year’s 509,000.

While this year’s final number is still possible to increase, the trend shows that ships passengers may decrease this year.

There were some 360,000 passengers using ships up until the 15th day of the Idul Fitri period — a decrease of 24.66 percent compared to last year’s figure of some 478,000 passengers.

The government this year prepared 528 ships with a total capacity of more than 139,000 passengers.

Transportation Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal said the number of holiday makers for the holiday reached 11.4 million or a five percent increase on last year.

Buses also carried less passengers with some 619,000 compared to 677,00 passengers last year, or a 8.59 percent decrease.

While the data has yet to be final, the trend is likely to be the same with those of ships as the peak of returning people was reached four days after the Idul Fitri holidays.

Trains reportedly carried less passengers this year with 1.77 million people compared to last year’s figure of 1.80 million.

The train data did not however include passengers from the major destinations of Bandung in West Java, Semarang in Central Java or Jember in East Java. The total number of passengers could still increase as these towns are major train destinations.

Spokesman for the National Police Sr. Comr. Bambang Kuncoko said Sunday the death toll had increased from last year’s holiday toll.

“There was an increase of some 36 percent with at least 319 deaths from 1,051 accidents this year,” he told Detik.com.

“More than 1,200 people were also injured.”

A major accident took place Sunday evening with 12 people killed on the Merak turnpike, Detik reported Sunday.

A bus heading for Merak in Banten suffered a tire blow-out before crossing into the Jakarta-bound lane.

The bus then crashed into a minibus and a sedan.

KM Acita sea vessel capsized as it was about to enter the seaport in Bau-bau, Southeast Sulawesi, killing 31 passengers.

Jusman, however, said the number of accidents this year was lower than last year.

Source: The Jakarta Post

Add comment October 24th, 2007

More than 20,000 people evacuated in East Java amid volcano fears

More than 22,000 people were evacuated from below the Mount Kelud Volcano in East Java, according to the latest UN update published Friday in Geneva amid fears of a powerful eruption.

Experts warned that the 1,731-metre volcano, which lies about 100 kilometres south-east of the provincial capital Surabaya, was still in imminent danger of erupting despite fewer tremors.

According to information from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), a total 22,154 people had been persuaded to leave their homes in two provinces Kediri and Blitar within a 10 kilometre radius of the mountain. However, another 17,000 had defied warnings and returned home.

While volcanic tremors had eased, the Directorate for Volcanology in Bandung said activity was still increasing. The deformation of the crater was also increasing, a sign of imminent eruption.

The volcano, which has been increasingly active in recent weeks, last erupted in 1990, killing more than 30 people. It is considered the most active of Indonesia’s volcanoes lying within the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where seismic activity is common. dpa hl pmc

Source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/

Add comment October 24th, 2007