Protests against LPG and fuel price hikes continue in several cities
Nana Rukmana and Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon/Bandung
Hundreds of students held protests on Tuesday in cities throughout Java demanding the government reverse state oil and gas company PT Pertamina's decision to raise the price of high- octane gasoline and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
The protesters said that the price hike would have a multiplier effect, raising the price of other commodities and end up hurting the common people.
In Cirebon, West Java, students blocked parts of the northern coastal highway, burning tires and causing severe traffic jams that lasted for over four hours.
The students, numbering about 100, came from several universities in Cirebon.
Police said they did nothing to stop the protests because of fears they would escalate.
The students said in the protest that the gasoline and LPG price hike would only increase the economic hardship many had felt since the economic crisis began in 1997.
Many motorists commented that they supported the student agenda, but not the traffic jam they had created.
"I will not arrive at my destination on time. My boss will be mad," said Usman, 38, a truck driver from Central Java on his way to Bandung.
Separately in Bandung, dozens of students from the Bandung Institute of Technology road around the city on motorcycles to protest the price hikes.
In certain roads, the students blocked the roads, turning off their motorcycle engines en mass to symbolize their resistance to the hike.
In speeches later on in front of the governor's office on Jl. Diponegoro, the students slammed the decision.
The government had done nothing to pursue corruption cases in oil and gas sectors that had cost the state trillions of rupiah, and instead had allowed Pertamina to raise the price of LPG and gasoline, they said.
"If the government is serious about investigating the corruption cases and preventing the losses, this money could be used to subsidize the price of LPG and gasoline," a student protester said.
In Jakarta, a group of famous artists and actors joined forces with students.
Among the group was Rieke Dyah Pitaloka, who plays Oneng in popular sitcom Bajaj Bajuri.
Last week Pertamina announced it had raised the retail prices of high quality gasoline brands Pertamax and Pertamax Plus by 63.3 percent and 52.7 percent respectively and the price of LPG by 41.6 percent.
The move is seen as a forerunner to planned government move to lift costly subsidies on cheaper fuels in 2005 after high oil prices this year caused the cost of the subsidies to more than triple.
The unsubsidized higher octane brands of gasoline are generally used for vehicles owned by wealthy and middle class consumers, with the bulk of Indonesians using the cheaper, subsidized Premium brand.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government has said it planned to start removing the subsidies on these fuels next year.
However, local kerosene stove makers said the price hikes had been a blessing in disguise.
A shop keeper in Semarang said in the past two days, she had sold 30 stoves, while on normal days she would only sell from five to seven. The price of a kerosene stove is between Rp 50,000 (US$5.5) and Rp 130,000.
Customers had shifted their preference to kerosene stoves after the price of a 12 kilogram LPG canister rose sharply to Rp 53,000, from Rp 38,000 earlier.