A commotion had occurred at the Tegal Alur Public Cemetery in West Jakarta due to hundreds of residents forcing their way inside to pay their respects to family during the holiday.
The crowds gathered even though DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan banned cemetery visits between 12-16th May. The ban was put in place to prevent mass gatherings over the Eid holidays to prevent COVID-19 transmission.
“Yes, it is true [it was chaotic],” said Head of the West Jakarta Municipal Police, Tamo Sijabat.
Residents were reportedly pushing and shoving each other in order to enter the cemetery. The officers on site finally let the residents in to avoid further troubles.
Although the residents were allowed to enter, Tamo said that the officers still monitored the implementation of health protocols.
“Earlier, officers distributed at least 500 masks too,” he added.
Last Thursday, 13th May, the West Jakarta Municipal Police drove away about 30 residents who came to the Utan Jati Public Cemetery.
Tamo explained that those residents managed to enter the cemetery area through the road at the back. The front entrance was closed due to the policy on the prohibition of cemetery visitation.
Meanwhile, a member of the People’s Representative Council from the Golkar faction, Dedi Mulyadi, admitted that he was confused about the government’s policy to close the cemetery and prohibit visiting during the Eid al-Fitr 2021 holiday, whilst still allowing tourist attractions to operate.
According to Dedi, visiting the cemetery during the Eid al-Fitr holidays has become a tradition for many Indonesians. He added that those areas more at risk of causing crowds and having the potential to become a COVID-19 hot spot for transmission are tourist attractions. photo courtesy news.detik.com
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