Students rally against fuel price<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Students in several major cities across the country took to
\nthe streets on Thursday to protest against the hike in fuel
\nprices that was announced overnight.<\/p>\n
In some places the rallies turned ugly, including in the South
\nSulawesi capital of Makassar where hundreds of State Islamic
\nInstitute (UMI) students set up a roadblock outside their campus,
\nburned tires and hijacked a fuel truck belonging to the state oil
\ncompany Pertamina.<\/p>\n
Minor clashes occurred in Jakarta between security personnel
\nand some 100 students from the State Institute of Islamic Studies
\n(IAIN), who held a street protest in front of their South Jakarta
\ncampus. The students placed leaflets on passing cars and waved
\nplacards demanding that the government arrest corrupt officials
\nand seize their assets instead of raising fuel prices.<\/p>\n
Order was quickly restored.<\/p>\n
In Makassar, the UMI students hurled stones at the Pertamina
\ntruck, which happened to be passing their campus.<\/p>\n
The incident caused a massive traffic jam along the main
\nstreet, Jl. Urip Sumohardjo.<\/p>\n
Some of the students mounted the roof of the truck and
\ndelivered speeches expressing their disappointment at the
\ngovernment's decision.<\/p>\n
\"We are very, very disappointed that the government has again
\nlet the poor suffer,\" a protester yelled while stoning the truck.<\/p>\n
A similar demonstration was held by hundreds of students from
\nthe Makassar-based IAIN and Muhammadyah University at a local
\nPertamina office.<\/p>\n
During the protest, they criticized President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri's administration for lacking a sense of crisis.
\nThey also asked Megawati to resign.<\/p>\n
\"The government totally lacks concern for the people's
\nsuffering. How could they ignore the impact of their decision?
\nMegawati must resign if she fails to annul the decision\",
\nMujibaran, a student leader, shouted.<\/p>\n
In Denpasar, Bali, around 70 students staged a peaceful
\nprotest at the downtown Puputan Badung square. They came from the
\nstate-run Udayana University and the private Warmadewa
\nUniversity.<\/p>\n
Besides denouncing the fuel price hike, and the planned
\nincrease in electricity tariffs, the students demanded that the
\nMegawati administration immediately seize the assets of former
\npresident Soeharto and his cronies. The assets, they said, should
\nbe used to provide fuel subsidies.<\/p>\n
In Surabaya, students grouped under the Student Union for
\nPeople's Freedom (SMPR) and the Indonesian Islamic Student
\nMovement (PMII) held a joint rally against the increased fuel
\nprices in front of the local council building.<\/p>\n
\"Given the fact that our country has yet to emerge from the
\nprolonged economic crisis, the government must provide more
\nsubsidies to the poor,\" Aris Sholehuddin, the rally co-ordinator,
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
In Manado, North Sulawesi, a group of people calling
\nthemselves the United People's Alliance held a rally at the local
\ncouncil building.<\/p>\n
Cordinator Roy Bayalatu said that fuel price increases were
\nnot the only solution for repaying the country's huge foreign
\ndebts.<\/p>\n
He also said that the increase would raise new problems for
\nthe community as it would be followed by a hike in the price of
\nstaple goods as well as a series of job cuts.<\/p>\n
A rally in Bandung, which involved dozens of members of the
\nAssociation of Islamic Students (HMI) and the Bandung Indonesian
\nYouth Front (FIMB), proceeded peacefully.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/students-rally-against-fuel-price-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}