Jakarta. President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Monday urged Eid holiday travelers to postpone their return trips as toll roads are expected to get extremely packed with vehicles.

The return flow of travelers is forecast to peak on April 24-25. 

Government data shows at least 203,000 vehicles from the east of the Trans-Java toll and Bandung are forecast to pass through the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road each day as holidaymakers head back. This is a huge jump from what the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road usually sees, which stands at around 53,000 vehicles per day. 

“So we are telling people with no urgent matters to avoid the peak of the exodus returns traffic by postponing their return trips to after April 26,”  Jokowi said in a recorded video statement.

“This applies to civil servants, police, military, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) employees, as well as private sector workers whose terms can be arranged by their respective companies in the form of additional leaves or other time-offs,”  Jokowi added.

According to Jokowi, Indonesia’s Ramadan exodus travels have hit a record high, but the country was able to keep the flow of these travelers under control.

“We were able to get through the highest annual Eid exodus in history which occurred a few days ago,” the president said.

A Transport Ministry survey predicted that 123.8 million people would travel to their hometowns to celebrate Eid this year. This marks a 45 percent increase from the 2022 figures.

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