Police out in force ahead of fuel price hike
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Anticipating protests about increased fuel prices in October, the Jakarta Police are tightening security around government buildings and public areas and are promising to get tough on people stockpiling fuel.
City Police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said during the weekend that many groups were likely to express their dissatisfaction through rallies when the government announced the fuel price hike.
"The Jakarta Police are anticipating this. That's why we have prepared personnel from police subprecincts, precincts and headquarters," he said.
Students, had already expressed their objection to the fuel price hike, he said, and two-thirds of the city police, or around 16,000 officers were on standby, he said.
Detectives and intelligence officers were also monitoring certain groups they thought could become violent or unruly, he said.
Firman said he had ordered South and Central Jakarta Police chiefs to prepare contingency protection and evacuation plans as there were many important buildings in both areas.
"They must come up with good maps and plans on how to contain demonstrations. We predict that huge demonstrations will erupt in both areas. Both chiefs should have anticipated the way out of possibly chaotic conditions," he said.
Firman said that police would keep a close eye on rallies outside the presidential palace, House of Representatives buildings, and the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, all in Central Jakarta, as well as Pertamina's head office in Plumpang, North Jakarta.
Vice President Yusuf Kalla said over the weekend that the fuel price would be increased by up to 80 percent to ease the burden of expensive subsidies on the state budget.
Firman said police had established teams to investigate many reports of shortages in kerosene in several areas in Jakarta.
"We realize that prior to increasing the prices, many agents will stockpile fuel so that they can sell it later when the price is high," he said.
On Wednesday Jakarta Police announced that during a two-month operation they had arrested 54 people for illegally hoarding a total of 317,000 liters of fuel.
This include 2,000 liters of premium gasoline, 154,000 liters of diesel, 73,000 liters of kerosene and 85,000 liters of other forms of fuel.
Most suspects were arrested for holding, transporting, and trading fuel without permits, while several gas station employees were charged for tampering with meters.
Jakartans have recently complained about the increase of kerosene prices to up to Rp 1,200 (US12 cents) a liter from Rp 800 several months ago. Both prices are higher than the government-set Rp 700 a liter of kerosene for households.