'Fuel subsidy cut may ease traffic'

'Fuel subsidy cut may ease traffic'

A steady rise in global oil prices has renewed the debate over
the merits of the fuel subsidy here. Experts are largely divided
by the issue. The Jakarta Post asked residents for their comments
on the subsidy.

Oentoro Surya, 53, is a shipping business entrepreneur:

I would rather the government quit subsidizing fuel. The
system has been in place for too long and now people think it is
their right and refuse to pay the market price for fuel.

Cutting the subsidy would be the best way to encourage people
to use fuel efficiently. It would decrease fuel consumption and
ease traffic, too. Local industries would then be able to perform
more efficiently.

Most fuel consumers are in the middle and upper classes
anyway. For those in the lower economic brackets, the government
could apply a more focused subsidy.

Rury Feriana, 26, works at a bank. She lives in North Jakarta:

I think the fuel subsidy is still necessary. If the government
cuts the subsidy, those people in the lower economic brackets
would be the hardest hit. It would make their already hard lives
even more difficult, and would backfire on the government as
well.

The government should come up with a better idea or some
innovation for distributing compensation funds if it decides to
cut the subsidy.

I do not think compensation funds have really reached their
targets. Government assistance funds taken from the fuel subsidy
that were meant for health and education programs for the poor
never reached these targets.

The government also has to audit state oil and gas company
Pertamina to see if the company is really suffering financially
from the increased global fuel prices.

-- The Jakarta Post