Students rally against fuel price

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Students in several major cities across the country took to the streets on Thursday to protest against the hike in fuel prices that was announced overnight.

In some places the rallies turned ugly, including in the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar where hundreds of State Islamic Institute (UMI) students set up a roadblock outside their campus, burned tires and hijacked a fuel truck belonging to the state oil company Pertamina.

Minor clashes occurred in Jakarta between security personnel and some 100 students from the State Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN), who held a street protest in front of their South Jakarta campus. The students placed leaflets on passing cars and waved placards demanding that the government arrest corrupt officials and seize their assets instead of raising fuel prices.

Order was quickly restored.

In Makassar, the UMI students hurled stones at the Pertamina truck, which happened to be passing their campus.

The incident caused a massive traffic jam along the main street, Jl. Urip Sumohardjo.

Some of the students mounted the roof of the truck and delivered speeches expressing their disappointment at the government's decision.

"We are very, very disappointed that the government has again let the poor suffer," a protester yelled while stoning the truck.

A similar demonstration was held by hundreds of students from the Makassar-based IAIN and Muhammadyah University at a local Pertamina office.

During the protest, they criticized President Megawati Soekarnoputri's administration for lacking a sense of crisis. They also asked Megawati to resign.

"The government totally lacks concern for the people's suffering. How could they ignore the impact of their decision? Megawati must resign if she fails to annul the decision", Mujibaran, a student leader, shouted.

In Denpasar, Bali, around 70 students staged a peaceful protest at the downtown Puputan Badung square. They came from the state-run Udayana University and the private Warmadewa University.

Besides denouncing the fuel price hike, and the planned increase in electricity tariffs, the students demanded that the Megawati administration immediately seize the assets of former president Soeharto and his cronies. The assets, they said, should be used to provide fuel subsidies.

In Surabaya, students grouped under the Student Union for People's Freedom (SMPR) and the Indonesian Islamic Student Movement (PMII) held a joint rally against the increased fuel prices in front of the local council building.

"Given the fact that our country has yet to emerge from the prolonged economic crisis, the government must provide more subsidies to the poor," Aris Sholehuddin, the rally co-ordinator, said.

In Manado, North Sulawesi, a group of people calling themselves the United People's Alliance held a rally at the local council building.

Cordinator Roy Bayalatu said that fuel price increases were not the only solution for repaying the country's huge foreign debts.

He also said that the increase would raise new problems for the community as it would be followed by a hike in the price of staple goods as well as a series of job cuts.

A rally in Bandung, which involved dozens of members of the Association of Islamic Students (HMI) and the Bandung Indonesian Youth Front (FIMB), proceeded peacefully.