Students protest basic commodity price hikes<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): College students in North Sumatra and Central
\nSulawesi staged massive demonstrations yesterday demanding the
\ngovernment do more to bring down prices of basic goods.<\/p>\n
In Central Sulawesi, hundreds of students took to the streets
\nof the capital Palu, carrying posters and chanting slogans
\ndemanding prices be lowered.<\/p>\n
They marched from Tadulako University campus along main
\nthoroughfares to the provincial legislative council offices where
\nthey read out their demands, Antara reported.<\/p>\n
Met by deputy council speaker Kenan Ismail of the Armed Forces
\nfaction, the protesters said prices of essential commodities in
\nthe province had jumped too much for most people.<\/p>\n
The demonstration prompted many shops in the city to close
\nyesterday because the owners were worried the protest would turn
\nviolent.<\/p>\n
Local police chief Lt. Col. Adrizal Adnan said the authorities
\nmanaged to control the situation.<\/p>\n
In the North Sumatra capital Medan, a similar protest took
\nplace at the Sumatra Utara University campus.<\/p>\n
The students included political reform, abolition of the
\nsubversion law, election of a new president and action against
\ncorrupt bureaucrats in their demands.<\/p>\n
\"Lower prices\" and \"Limit presidential power\" read two of the
\nnumerous banners they hung all over the campus.<\/p>\n
In a joint statement of seven student organizations read out
\nby student Jannes Silitonga, the protesters also demanded
\neconomic reform and pledged support for the presidential
\ncampaigns of opposition figures Megawati Soekarnoputri, Amien
\nRais and Sri Bintang Pamungkas.<\/p>\n
The demonstration ended with the students marching around the
\ncampus under the watchful eyes of security officers.<\/p>\n
Demands for lower prices was also the theme of activists at
\nYogyakarta's Indonesian Islamic University. They urged Armed
\nForces Commander Gen. Feisal Tanjung to take punitive measures
\nagainst people hoarding basic commodities.<\/p>\n
\"When the poor across the country cry for fulfillment of basic
\nneeds, hoarding commodities is an uncivilized act,\" the
\nuniversity's legal aid activists said in their statement.<\/p>\n
\"ABRI (the Armed Forces) should give hoarders a lesson and
\nsend a message to others that hoarding commodities doesn't pay.\"<\/p>\n
Business activities in the East Nusa Tenggara town of Ende
\nhave slowly resumed although many Chinese traders who lost their
\nproperty in Sunday's riot were still seeking refuge yesterday.<\/p>\n
Security officers were still very conspicuous yesterday
\nalthough the local government has guaranteed the situation is
\nsafe.<\/p>\n
Deputy East Nusa Tenggara police chief Col. Salikin said he
\nwas aware that many people complained about having difficulty
\nobtaining basic commodities following the riot.<\/p>\n
Police have detained three people on charges of instigating
\nthe riot Sunday in which 21 shops were burned to the ground and
\n71 others damaged. Most of the affected premises were owned by
\nentrepreneurs of Chinese descent.<\/p>\n
Lay Ming, 46, who lost her shop and everything except the
\nclothing she was wearing, called on the authorities to
\ninvestigate the incident. She said she believed the cause was
\n\"more than just the rising prices\".<\/p>\n
She tearfully recalled how the crowd banged on her shop doors,
\ndragged her out and looted her belongings.<\/p>\n
Another trader, Tan Cui Min, 73, said the mob looted her shops
\nand ran away in a boat to Ende island overlooking the town.
\n(21\/23\/pan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/students-protest-basic-commodity-price-hikes-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}