Sawt Falasteen - Millions of Indonesians in Eid travel exodus

Like China's Lunar New Year holiday or Christmas elsewhere, the mass movement kicks off an extended holiday as many in the Southeast Asian archipelago celebrate the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan with family.

Holiday-goers have flocked to major train stations and seaports in recent days, and the navy has deployed two warships to help transport travellers for what is one of the world's largest annual mass migrations of people.

Nearly 144 million Indonesians are expected to take part in this year's exodus, known locally as "mudik", senior infrastructure minister Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono told a press conference last week.

The projection was slightly down from last year's figure of more than 154 million voyagers.

The Indonesian navy on Tuesday sent its KRI Banda Aceh warship packed with holiday-goers from Jakarta to the Javan cities of Semarang and Surabaya, while another travelled from the capital to the Bangka Belitung islands off Sumatra.

The free service has become an annual tradition, and more than 1,400 people signed up to travel by warship this year.

"Hopefully next year we can add more routes," Navy chief of staff Muhammad Ali said in a statement. The military has not said how much is budgeted for providing the service.

The government has declared seven days of public holidays for the Eid season, urging revellers to not all travel on the same day.

It is also allowing civil servants to work remotely for five days over the period in a bid to ease traffic congestion.

On the island of Bali, Eid coincides this year with an annual Day of Silence to be marked by Hindus on Thursday, when locals and tourists alike will be expected to stay at home for 24 hours and refrain from working, travelling, or using electricity.

Long queues have formed at the resort island's Gilimanuk port, forcing travellers leaving Bali to wait for hours to cross the strait to Java island, according to media reports.

Authorities have deployed more ferries and sped up loading and unloading procedures try and ease the congestion, the transport ministry said Monday.

F.AbuShamala--SF-PST