'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