Fuel price hike protests lose fire

Fuel price hike protests lose fire

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The protests against rises in fuel prices largely fizzled out on
Wednesday in many cities across the country in what could been
seen as one of the biggest political tests for President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono since taking power last October.

However, the protests did not come to a complete end, and
demonstrators continued to set fire to tires on the streets,
seize passing fuel trucks and block roads, while public
transportation drivers staged strikes in several cities to put
pressure on the government to cancel the increases.

A clash broke out between 300 student protesters and police
during a second day of protests in Cirebon, West Java. No
casualties were reported but several activists were injured after
falling during the melee.

The scuffles took place on Jl. Dharsono, which is part of the
busy north coast highway connecting Jakarta and West Java.

It started after the students refused to release a truck
carrying staple foodstuffs that they had seized during their
protest. The protesters also blocked the road for five hours with
burning tires until around 2 p.m.

The roadblock caused serious congestion, paralyzing traffic on
Java's main highway.

Hundreds of policemen had to reroute vehicles along a number
of alternative routes to ease.

Sporadic rallies also continued in several places across
Makassar, South Sulawesi, including one quite near the private
residence of Vice President Jusuf Kalla on Jl. Haji Bau.

However, the student protesters from the Alauddin State
Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN) were kept from getting too
close to the residence as it was tightly guarded by police.

"We deliberately came to the Vice President's house as we
consider this location to be as close to the State Palace as we
can get in order to convey our views," a demonstrator said.

"Hey, SBY-JK, where is your promise to improve the lot of the
common people," he added, referring to Susilo and Kalla.

Also in Makassar, public transportation drivers went on strike to
demand that fares be increased following the fuel price rises
that came into effect on Monday. The strike left thousands of
commuters stranded along the city's main roads.

A clash nearly erupted between some of the strikers and the
drivers of buses serving Hasanuddin University, who refused to
offload their passengers and join the strike. However, the
incident passed off peacefully.

A similar strike was staged in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi,
with striking drivers ordering non-participating drivers to
offload their passengers and park their vehicles at the roadside.

Ashar, a striking driver, said he and his colleagues would
continue protesting until their demands were heeded by the local
government.

The Kendari administration and police were forced to deploy
official vehicles to transport stranded passengers.

Similar boycotts were held by protesting drivers in other
cities, including Riau capital Pekanbaru, Padang in West Sumatra,
Purwokerto in Central Java and Kupang in East Nusa Tenggara.

During a noisy rally in Pekanbaru, more than 100 students from
various universities in Riau stopped and seized a diesel tanker
truck belonging to state-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina.

They demonstrators later marched to the province's legislative
council, demanding that it put pressure on the House of
Representatives to pass a motion of no confidence in the Susilo
administration.

The protesters also urged the government to arrest big-time
corrupters, whom they blamed for partly contributing to the fuel
price hikes.

"Oil-rich Riau should not be made to suffer as a result of
SBY's policies. It's the people in Jakarta who are corrupt, but
we are also affected by this. We demand that SBY be unseated,"
shouted a student.

In Padang, over 100 public transportation drivers on the Pasar
Raya-Tabing and Pasar Raya-Lubuk Buaya routes stopped work for
more than three hours from 10 a.m.

As a result, hundreds of students and other passengers were
stranded at bus stops. Some of them had to take taxis or ojek
(motorcycle taxis) to get to their schools and workplaces.