TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The 2-meter social distancing policy applied at every Transjakarta bus stop queues has sparked protests from would-be passengers. It has even triggered a physical argument at the Transjakarta’s Pulogadung bus stop on Monday, March 16.

Passengers that were forced to maintain a distance among each other in a long queue engaged in a heated argument with security personnel.

The commotion happened at 07:00 Indonesia Western Time (WIB) when a group of people who had queued for an extended amount of time protested against the social distancing policy to a security personnel present near the bus stop’s entrance gate.

“I have waited for too long. Don’t tell us to back off and maintain our distance anymore. It’s already difficult enough for us,” said one passenger to a Transjakarta security guard standing by.

“Bus stop personnel applied the one to two-meter distance rule between queues, meanwhile the buses took forever to arrive. This makes it difficult for us,” said one passenger in the queue this morning, Asa (27).

The extensive queue at the Pulogadung Transjakarta bus stop formed at 06:00 WIB and lasted up to 08:30. This situation forced passengers to queue for hours before even stepping on a bus.

“This social distancing policy is not effective in my opinion. There are too many passengers, which eventually make us all packed between each other once we enter the bus,” said another passenger in the queue, Aryo (39).

Transjakarta spokeswoman Nadia said the limited operations of Transjakarta buses were meant to stem the possible spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) across public facilities in Jakarta from March 13 - March 30.

ANTARA