Striking minibus drivers leaves thousands stranded
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Strikes by public minibus drivers protesting the fuel price hike announced by the government last week left thousands of passengers across the country stranded on Monday.
Public minibus drivers staged protests in Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi, the West Java capital of Bandung, Purwokerto in Central Java and on the outskirts of Greater Jakarta.
Students and employees in these cities waited in vain for public minibuses, and were forced to walk or take more expensive motorcycle taxis to their destinations.
In some areas, the police, the military and state-owned land transportation companies deployed their armada of vehicles to transport stranded commuters.
The government's decision last week to increase the price of fuel by 14.5 percent on average has upset transportation operators, who are required to charge passengers old fares even though the price of fuel has risen three times over the past six months.
"It is unfair because the government has raised fuel prices three times since last November but has yet to increase public transportation fares," Jaelani, one of the striking drivers in Tangerang, told The Jakarta Post in front of the Mahkota shopping center on Jl. MH. Thamrin.
Another driver, Dudi Sabil Sikandar, said drivers' income had dropped drastically because they had to spend more money to purchase gas.
"We used to bring home at least Rp 30,000 (US$3.22) a day, but since the price of fuel went up we can only take home Rp 10,000 a day. How can we feed our families on that much money?" he asked.
A public minibus driver in Makassar, Rudi, said he and his colleagues had no other choice but to go on strike in order to make the government aware of their plight.
"If we do not stop working the government will not pay attention to us," he said. "We are just crying out for justice."
In some cities new public transportation fares were announced, but passengers refused to pay these higher fares.
It was unclear as of Monday afternoon if the drivers would continue with their strike, or if they would go back to work and give local administrations time to announce new fares.
While the protests and demonstrations were generally peaceful affairs, there was some trouble in Makassar, where Indonesian Muslim University students protesting the fuel price hike clashed with the police.
Five students and two police officers were injured in the violence. A bus stop and an automatic teller machine also were damaged during the melee.
The violence was sparked by unidentified people on the university campus who pelted stones at the officers, who were attempting to disperse the students after the time allotted for their demonstration had ended.
In Bogor, West Java, a strike by drivers inadvertently resulted in the death of a junior high school student, identified as Rizki, who died while hitching a free ride on a truck.
Also, the Bogor City Police arrested Edi, 25, a resident of Cimahpar village, for allegedly provoking public transportation drivers to go on strike.
In Bandung, police said the strike was unlawful because many of the drivers were forced to take part in the labor action.
Police chief Sr. Comr. Hendra Sukmana said he met with a group of drivers who requested police protection after other drivers intimidated them to take part in the strike.
"Most of the drivers went home early. It was an unorganized strike, and nobody even went to the city council or the provincial legislature to air their demands," Hendra said.
One driver in Bandung, Eman, 36, said a group of striking drivers shouted at him after he picked up several passengers in the Gasibu area.
And along Jl. Setiabudi and Jl. Pahlawan, protesting drivers threw stones at public minibuses that were carrying passengers.