The government has moved Eid al-Fitr 1444 Hijri, or Eid joint’s leave, from the 21st-26th of April 2023 to the 19th-25th of April 2023.
The key reason for shifting the date of Eid’s joint leave is to prevent the potential traffic buildup during the peak homecoming period on the 21st of April, assuming the previous holiday schedule scenario.
Budi Karya Sumadi, the Minister of Transportation, stated the decision to move Eid’s joint leave schedule forward was made at a limited meeting on homecoming traffic on the 24th of March, led by President Joko Widodo himself at the presidential palace in Jakarta.
“You could say that (the change of joint leave date) because the de facto decision has occurred in the limited meeting. For the de jure decision, we will propose it to the President, and I think I will arrange a meeting with the three ministries soon,” Budi said after the limited meeting at a press conference.
The minister referred to the Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, the Minister of Manpower Ida Fauziyah, the Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Nadiem Makarim, and the Minister of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform Abdullah Azwar Anas, who issued the SKB regarding national holidays and joint leaves in 2023.
In a letter issued on the 11th of October 2022, the Ministry of Transportation stated that the national holiday scheduled for the 22nd to 23rd of April 2023 would be accompanied by a common leave schedule for the following days: the 21st, 24th, 25th, and 26th of April. The Minister of Transportation added that he and Indonesia’s Chief of the National Police, Listyo Sigit Prabowo, were among those who proposed to move the 2023 joint holiday schedule from the 21st-26th of April, to the 19th-25th of April to manage homecoming flows.
Budi said that with the long holiday configuration, there’s a high chance that homecoming flows will accumulate on the 21st of April. “In the past, homecoming flows have been very high with lots of volumes, and if we look at it in the same way, only the 21st will have an extraordinary accumulation,” Budi said.
The Minister of Transportation said that he and the Chief of the National Police had agreed to extend the start date by two days and shorten the end date by one day for the 2023 joint holiday, which would be held from the 19th to the 25th of April.
“By extending the start date, travellers can begin their homecoming journey on the 18th of April in the afternoon, as well as the 19th, 20th, and 21st of April. That means, they have four days to return home,” he said.
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