Jakartans need to be more thrifty<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto and Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
It was 1:30 p.m. and Jakarta was overcast with gray clouds
\nshutting out the normally scorching sun.<\/p>\n
Harsana, a 67-year-old former police officer, sat in his dim
\nliving room along with the five members of his family last
\nweekend watching a small 14-inch TV. All lights were off.<\/p>\n
"From now on, we must be more than just thrifty. We must cut
\nback all round if we want to pay the electricity bill, which will
\nlikely increase next month," sighed Harsana, who now works as a
\nfreelance driver for a catering company in Kali Malang, East
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
The family usually spent some Rp 160,000 and Rp 200,000
\nrespectively per month on electricity and phone bills, while
\nHarsana spent Rp 75,000 a month on buying gasoline for his
\nmotorbike.<\/p>\n
Harsana used to turn on the light on rainy days. But not
\nanymore.<\/p>\n
"No more lights anymore. I don't turn on unnecessary lights
\nlike in the kitchen, bedrooms, bathroom or outside the house" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Harsana also told his family members to restrain from using
\nthe phone for unnecessary purposes.<\/p>\n
He himself had started to stop calling his relatives in
\nYogyakarta and communicate with them through Short Message
\nService (SMS) facility on his daughter's cell phone.<\/p>\n
Enforced darkness in Harsana's home may reflect the gloomy
\noutlook for Jakarta amid soaring prices following the
\nsimultaneous hikes in fuel, phone and electricity charges
\nannounced by the government just hours after New Year's
\nfestivities.<\/p>\n
The government raised fuel prices by 22 percent, effective as
\nof Jan. 2, as part of the measures to slash expensive subsidies
\nand relieve the burden on the cash-strapped state budget.<\/p>\n
The increase coincides with other measures to save ailing
\nstate-run utility companies from bankruptcy by increasing
\nelectricity charges by an average of 6 percent and phone charges
\nby more than 15 percent.<\/p>\n
These latest hikes have placed an additional burden on low and
\nmiddle-income groups, which have suffered most amid the
\nprotracted economic slump. Last month, the state-owned oil and
\ngas firm Pertamina raised the price of liquefied petroleum gas
\n(LPG) from Rp 28,800 to Rp 32,400 per tube.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the increases have come hot on the heels of the
\ngovernment's announcement of a controversial release and
\ndischarge policy, which allows some former bankers to escape
\nprosecution for past banking crimes.<\/p>\n
Many claim that the government is trying to shift the burden
\narising from inefficiency and corruption in state firms onto the
\ngeneral public.<\/p>\n
They have also warned that such policies, which also affect
\nmiddle-income people, could undermine the credibility of
\nPresident Megawati Soekarnoputri's administration.<\/p>\n
It was middle class outrage, precipitated by simultaneous
\nprice rises, that sparked the downfall of former President
\nSoeharto in 1998.<\/p>\n
In fact, many people have been infuriated by the most recent
\nprice hikes.<\/p>\n
"I'm really angry about the increases. It forces our family to
\nseek other sources of income to make up for the shortfall," said
\nBimo Nugroho, 32, who works for a non-governmental organization
\nin Utan Kayu, East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Bimo said his wife, Taty, 27, who had just given birth to her
\nthird daughter last month, would start a small food-catering
\nbusiness targeting his colleagues.<\/p>\n
"Earlier, she had planned to stay at home to take care of our
\nthree kids. But the soaring prices have forced us to seek other
\nsources of income. We simply cannot slash essential spending,"
\nBimo said.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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