Four students hurt in clash during price hike protest
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.