Students demand Tunky's resignation

YOGYAKARTA: About 50 students staged a demonstration at the campus of Gadjah Mada University yesterday against the rise of paper prices.

Organized by the Yogyakarta Student Publication Association, the banner-waving protesters demanded that Minister of Industry Tunky Ariwibowo resign and that the government lower paper prices.

They also demanded that the government put an end to oligopolistic and monopolistic practices in the paper industry.

Sunarto Cipto Harjono, the association's secretary-general, said paper prices in Yogyakarta had risen by between 40 percent and 200 percent. "This is just unthinkable," he said.

He said that the crisis had been engineered by paper producers who meant to extract as much profit as possible to the detriment of the public.

"The government is too slow in responding to the crisis," Sunarto said. (02/anr)