Fuel prices left to market?

Fuel prices left to market?

From Koran Tempo

The price of some fuels will be left to follow the market mechanism starting next year, which means that they will be rising in phases according to their economic value.

Tubagus Haryono, head of the Oil and Gas Distribution Agency, said in Jakarta recently that the fuels which would follow market regulation were gasoline and automotive diesel oil (Tempo Interaktif, May 26).

Based on the 1945 Constitution, all natural resources in Indonesia are governed by the state and utilized for maximum public welfare. Is the liberation of fuel prices in the market meant to promote public welfare?

In my view, this policy, instead of promoting public welfare, will mean that people are strangled by price hikes. It implies that the government can only exploit resources, without managing them to improve welfare.

In fact, it is the management of resources for public welfare that the government is obliged to perform. Any failure in carrying out this duty means a violation of the Constitution, which would lead to the relevant government's downfall.

VERANANDA ROSA Yogyakarta