Govt plays down fuel protests<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government played down on Tuesday demonstrations against
\nlooming fuel price increases, despite the fact that the protests
\nwere growing in frequency and gathering pace of late.<\/p>\n
Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who is on an overseas trip to
\nSouth Africa, said the government was not worried about the
\ndemonstrations.<\/p>\n
\"Such protests or demonstrations are common in a democratic
\ncountry. The government is prepared to face all risks and impacts
\nof the fuel price hike policy,\" he said as quoted by Antara.<\/p>\n
The government plans to raise gasoline and diesel prices by
\nOct. 1, 2005, but has not revealed how much. The plan has
\ntriggered daily protests across Indonesia. The increase will be
\nsecond time this year, after the March 1 hike.<\/p>\n
Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security
\nAffairs Widodo Adi Sucipto also stated that the ongoing protests
\nand rallies were still within the \"normal and tolerable\" levels.<\/p>\n
\"As long as the rallies abide by the rules and laws, they're
\njust part of democracy. Such reactions are normal and we handle
\nthem,\" he said at his office in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The government is prepared to prevent some chaos and violence
\nas Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono said the Indonesian
\nMilitary (TNI) and the National Police were fully prepared for
\nthat possibility.<\/p>\n
As protests continued to escalate nationwide, so did the lines
\nat filling stations in a number of cites across Java island as
\nmotorists rushed to get full tanks of gasoline or diesel.<\/p>\n
In Yogyakarta, several stations reported shortages of gasoline
\nand diesel, while hundreds of cars continued to wait at the few
\noutlets with some fuel still for sale.<\/p>\n
Thousands of students, meanwhile, took to the streets in the
\nSouth Sulawesi capital of Makassar, carrying banners and burning
\ntires in protest of the government's policy.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, dozens of people rallied outside the presidential
\npalace.<\/p>\n
Based on intelligence data, Jakarta military chief Maj. Gen.
\nAgustadi SP said on Tuesday that massive demonstrations were
\nexpected to hit cities on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\"We've made available a company of soldiers to assist police
\nin securing the capital. But we'll be ready to deploy more,\" he
\nwas quoted as saying by Antara.<\/p>\n
As the government steels itself against the demonstrations,
\nsome figures have remained nearly silent, saying almost nothing
\ncould stop the government from implementing the price hike.<\/p>\n
Regional Representative Council (DPD) deputy chairman La Ode
\nIda said demonstrations against the policy would only produce a
\nsignificant effect if they were done by either besieging the
\nstate palace or the legislative complex, or any other action that
\nmight that bring the economy to a halt.<\/p>\n
In attempt to allay public concern, the government is
\ndistributing money from an assistance fund to poor families to
\noffset the fuel increase, because that hike would likely push up
\nthe prices of other daily basic necessities.<\/p>\n
After completing the poverty registration, the government has
\npromised to give each of the 15 million low-income families
\nmonthly payments of Rp 100,000 (approximately US$10) beginning
\nnext month to help ease their economic burden from the price
\nrises.<\/p>\n
The government has been forced to further cut trillions of
\nrupiah worth of oil subsidy expenses due to the ballooning global
\noil prices. It has yet to announce the size of the fuel price
\nhikes, but some officials have hinted that it could be a 50
\npercent to 70 percent increase.<\/p>\n
Increasing the fuel price is a sensitive issue in this
\ncountry, the world's fourth most populous. Mass riots sparked by
\na price rise in 1998 hastened the ouster of former dictator
\nSoeharto. Former president Megawati Soekarnoputri was also forced
\nto scale back an increase early in 2002 due to escalating
\nprotests nationwide.<\/p>",
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