Striking minibus drivers leaves thousands stranded

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.