Students, workers to continue protests

Students, workers to continue protests

Students, workers and employers vowed on Monday to continue their
street rallies to force the government to make radical changes to
economic policies aimed at bailing the country out of its
multidimensional crisis.

"We will not stop demonstrating until the economic policy is
totally revoked, because there is no guarantee that after the
street rallies stop the government will not hike the utility
prices again," said Rico Marbun, chairman of the University of
Indonesia's Student Executive Council.

"Rolling back fuel prices and electricity and telephone rates
will not solve the root cause of our economic problems, which is
corruption," he said

Gregorius Budi Wardoyo, chief of the education department for
the National Front for Indonesian Workers' Struggle, said workers
would continue to demonstrate because the cut in utility rates
was inadequate to improve the economic situation.

"We are still in a crisis. Decreasing utility rates will not
bring us out of the crisis. The problem is in the IMF-dictated
economic reform policy," he said.

The workers, therefore, will continue to urge the government
to revoke its IMF-dictated economic policy and adopt a new
package, he said.

However, Djimanto, deputy chairman of the Indonesian Employers
Association, said the government's decision to lower utility
rates might avert the risk of massive layoffs.

Yet, employers will maintain pressure on the government to cut
the high-cost economy caused by corruption, as this is the only
way to survive competition in the region, he said.

"We have three quarters to eliminate the high costs, otherwise
businesses will collapse and massive unemployment will be
inevitable," he warned. -- JP