Jakartans need to be more thrifty

Jakartans need to be more thrifty

Damar Harsanto and Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

It was 1:30 p.m. and Jakarta was overcast with gray clouds
shutting out the normally scorching sun.

Harsana, a 67-year-old former police officer, sat in his dim
living room along with the five members of his family last
weekend watching a small 14-inch TV. All lights were off.

"From now on, we must be more than just thrifty. We must cut
back all round if we want to pay the electricity bill, which will
likely increase next month," sighed Harsana, who now works as a
freelance driver for a catering company in Kali Malang, East
Jakarta.

The family usually spent some Rp 160,000 and Rp 200,000
respectively per month on electricity and phone bills, while
Harsana spent Rp 75,000 a month on buying gasoline for his
motorbike.

Harsana used to turn on the light on rainy days. But not
anymore.

"No more lights anymore. I don't turn on unnecessary lights
like in the kitchen, bedrooms, bathroom or outside the house" he
said.

Harsana also told his family members to restrain from using
the phone for unnecessary purposes.

He himself had started to stop calling his relatives in
Yogyakarta and communicate with them through Short Message
Service (SMS) facility on his daughter's cell phone.

Enforced darkness in Harsana's home may reflect the gloomy
outlook for Jakarta amid soaring prices following the
simultaneous hikes in fuel, phone and electricity charges
announced by the government just hours after New Year's
festivities.

The government raised fuel prices by 22 percent, effective as
of Jan. 2, as part of the measures to slash expensive subsidies
and relieve the burden on the cash-strapped state budget.

The increase coincides with other measures to save ailing
state-run utility companies from bankruptcy by increasing
electricity charges by an average of 6 percent and phone charges
by more than 15 percent.

These latest hikes have placed an additional burden on low and
middle-income groups, which have suffered most amid the
protracted economic slump. Last month, the state-owned oil and
gas firm Pertamina raised the price of liquefied petroleum gas
(LPG) from Rp 28,800 to Rp 32,400 per tube.

Unfortunately, the increases have come hot on the heels of the
government's announcement of a controversial release and
discharge policy, which allows some former bankers to escape
prosecution for past banking crimes.

Many claim that the government is trying to shift the burden
arising from inefficiency and corruption in state firms onto the
general public.

They have also warned that such policies, which also affect
middle-income people, could undermine the credibility of
President Megawati Soekarnoputri's administration.

It was middle class outrage, precipitated by simultaneous
price rises, that sparked the downfall of former President
Soeharto in 1998.

In fact, many people have been infuriated by the most recent
price hikes.

"I'm really angry about the increases. It forces our family to
seek other sources of income to make up for the shortfall," said
Bimo Nugroho, 32, who works for a non-governmental organization
in Utan Kayu, East Jakarta.

Bimo said his wife, Taty, 27, who had just given birth to her
third daughter last month, would start a small food-catering
business targeting his colleagues.

"Earlier, she had planned to stay at home to take care of our
three kids. But the soaring prices have forced us to seek other
sources of income. We simply cannot slash essential spending,"
Bimo said.