Govt Claims WFH Policy for Civil Servants Ease Eid Homecoming Return Flow Traffic

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The spokesperson for the Ministry of Transportation, Adita Irawati, stated that the traffic for Eid homecoming return flow began to ease on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. According to her, the decline in traffic is connected to the work-from-home (WFH) strategy the government implemented to unravel congestion during the Eid return flow. "The data is usually obtained cumulatively tomorrow (Wednesday) morning. But, from observation, there has been a decline (in traffic)," she said on Tuesday.

This WFH policy has unraveled the traffic on several toll roads, preventing long congestion. She said practical traffic congestion only occurred in parts of Jakarta due to the start of office activities after the Eid holiday. 

Even so, based on data from Jasa Marga, as many as 34 percent of vehicles had yet to return to Greater Jakarta until Monday morning. She estimated that the Eid return flow will continue for the next three days.

Adita also revealed that the traffic runs smoothly during the first day of WFH policy on a number of non-toll roads, including the northern coastal lane or Pantura and the southern lane. 

She believed the traffic management is successful due to the cooperation between the Transportation Ministry and several stakeholders. 

Previously, the government officially implemented a policy that combines work-from-office (WFO) with WFH for state civil apparatus. The policy is effective from April 16 to 17, 2024, under the Circular Letter of the Minister of State Apparatus Utilization and Bureaucratic Reform No. 1 of 2024. 

It stipulates the adjustment of the work system for government employees after the Eid holiday and joint leave. The policy is intended to strengthen traffic management during the Eid homecoming return flow. 

According to the regulation, WFO is applied 100 percent to agencies directly related to public services. For example, agencies running in health, security, disaster management, energy, logistics, postal services, transportation and distribution, and construction sectors. Meanwhile, agencies related to government administration can apply the WFH policy to a maximum of 50 percent of the number of employees.

"This means that it can be 40 percent, 30 percent, and so on, in accordance with each office’s policy," said Minister of State Apparatus Utilization and Bureaucratic Reform, Abdullah Azwar Anas.

NOVALI PANJI NUGROHO

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