Strikes hit some cities as anti-govt protests continue

Strikes hit some cities as anti-govt protests continue

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Mass strikes by public transportation drivers commenced in a
number of cities on Monday as street protests against recent
hikes in utility prices continued in several parts of the
country.

In the port city of Cirebon, West Java, hundreds of public
transport drivers serving the Cirebon-Indramayu route went on
strike to protest the increase in fuel prices, particularly
diesel fuel.

"The strike is the only action we can take to attract the
government's attention so it will listen to our grievances,"
Darmaji, a 42-year old driver who was among the demonstrators,
told The Jakarta Post.

A similar strike was held by dozens of drivers in the Riau
capital of Pekanbaru, leaving thousands of students and city
commuters stranded in the streets.

"Every day we are lost, because our incomes and expenditures
do not balance out as a result of the increased fuel prices,"
Andi, a driver in Pekanbaru, was quoted by Antara as saying.

Last week, the government cut fuel subsidies which raised the
prices on some gasoline products by 22 percent, and bumped up
electricity and telephone charges by an average of 6 percent and
15 percent, respectively.

More strikes are expected throughout the country as bus
operators have begun to feel the impact of the fuel price
increase.

Mustofa, head of the East Java chapter of the Organization of
Land Transportation Owners (Organda), said that about half of the
4,000 private buses linking cities in the most densely populated
province would halt operations because they could not afford it.

Meanwhile, thousands of students, non-governmental
organization activists and other people marched the streets in
many cities on the islands of Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi and Bali.
Their numbers ranged from a few hundred protesters to more than
1,000.

In Jakarta, several groups took turns picketing Merdeka
Palace, demanding the government to reverse the hikes in utility
rates immediately.

The demonstrators shouted anti-government slogans and urged
President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Vice President Hamzah Haz to
step down for failing to side with the poor in their national
policies.

Instead of raising utility prices, they said the government
should confiscate the assets of major business debtors to offset
the budget deficit.

The protests in Jakarta were not as big as was predicted days
earlier, but the protesters claimed that Monday's rally was only
the beginning of a moral movement aimed at seeking support from
others.

Fathul, secretary of the Student Executive Board (BEM) at the
University of Indonesia, threatened to organize bigger
demonstrations should the government refuse to heed the
protesters' demands.

BEM would also encourage the people to boycott paying taxes,
as well as electricity and telephone bills, if the price hikes
were not annulled, he said.

In the West Java capital of Bandung, hundreds of students and
activists from social and political organizations demonstrated at
the provincial legislative council to oppose the simultaneous
hikes.

"We urge Megawati and Hamzah Haz to resign shortly to show
responsibility for the policy that has, at most, brought only
further suffering for the people," Fajar Zulkarnaen, chairman of
the West Java chapter of the Indonesian Student Association, said
during a rally in Bandung.

Protests also hit Surabaya, the nation's second largest city,
with demonstrators slamming the government's decision to raise
the utility tariffs.

The protests proceeded in a generally peaceful manner across
the country, except for several arrests in Jakarta and in
Makassar, South Sulawesi, with some protesters arrested for
trampling on a picture of Megawati.

In a response to the widespread protests, the government said
on Monday it had no plans to overturn the decision on the price
increases, arguing that the House had approved the 2003 State
Budget in which the government proposed a huge cut in subsidies
for fuel and electricity.

Previous fuel price hikes sparked violent protests across the
country, which led to the ouster of then-President Soeharto in
1998.