Four students hurt in clash during price hike protest

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

At least four students were wounded when police scuffled with some 3,000 students protesting in front of the Grahadi State Building in Surabaya, East Java, on Friday.

The clash broke out at dusk, with police beating students with batons after they tried to storm the governor's office. Witnesses said police also detained four students.

Around 3,000 protesters rallied in Surabaya, the country's second-largest city, for most of the day, burning tires and posters of President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Vice President Hamzah Haz.

The protesters waved banners that read "drop the prices!" and "boycott the government!".

Elsewhere in the country, there were signs that two weeks of nationwide protests against the rises were running out of steam after the government announced on Wednesday it would postpone a hike in telephone rates and review fuel prices and electricity rates.

In Jakarta, dozens of students belonging to the National Islamic Students Organization (IMMNI) took to the streets, calling for transparency in channeling compensation funds and the death sentence for those who misused them.

In Yogyakarta, around 50 students rallied outside a downtown university campus. Two Australians and a Norwegian briefly joined the action in Yogyakarta. The foreigners, whose names were not released, were questioned before being told to leave the scene.

In Makassar, students from the Front for the Poor in Struggle (FPRM) urged Megawati and Hamzah to resign as their policies were against the interests of the poor.

The rally, which was staged in the city's business district, caused severe traffic congestion. The protesters also burned tires on the street.

In Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, around 100 people held a peaceful protest against the rise in fuel prices and electricity rates.

The government raised on Jan. 1, 2003, telephone and electricity rates and reduced fuel subsidies in order to balance the country's budget.

The decision, which was duly endorsed by the House of Representatives, has met strong opposition from the public, who have argued that the simultaneous increases are too burdensome.

The government has decided to delay the telephone rates hike and promised to review the increase in electricity rates and fuel prices.

The price hikes are part of efforts to reduce Indonesia's dependence on subsides and are in line with the advice of its international creditors.

The increases, which saw fuel prices and electricity rates jump by 6 percent to 22 percent, have been regarded as necessary by most economists.

The government has promised to disburse Rp 4.3 trillion (US$450 million) in aid to cushion the effect of the rises on the country's numerous poor.