Violence mars protests over fuel price hike

JAKARTA (JP): Violence marred protests here on Monday when scores of people were wounded by police who fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse a student rally protesting the 30 percent increase in fuel prices.

Angered by continuous jeering, police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at student protesters outside the State Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN) campus in Ciputat, Tangerang.

At least two students sustained gunshot wounds according to police. Ten other people, including IAIN students, suffered minor wounds when rocks were being thrown prior to the shooting.

Meanwhile, students claimed that eight people, were shot during the rally. Most of them were IAIN students.

"The National Police chief (Gen. Surojo Bimantoro) must take responsibility for these shootings," an IAIN student demanded.

The students identified those who sustained gunshot and other minor wounds as Lutfi, Khaidir, A. Supriyanto, Mustamiin, Willa, Syamsul, Ojay and Ryan, who they said was shot in his back.

The already tense atmosphere erupted into chaos in Ciputat at about 3:45 p.m. on Monday, when IAIN students, having burned tires and completely blocked Jl. H. Juanda, started jeering at police officers.

In response to the taunts, police officers lost control and chased the students, who took refuge in a nearby mosque.

Police followed the students into the mosque, causing them to scatter. The incident was then followed by rock-throwing which prompted the police to use tear gas and then rubber bullets.

The situation had returned to normal by 5 p.m. when police officers finally cleared Jl. H. Juanda in front of the IAIN campus.

Clashes between police and students also became tense at the University of Indonesia (UI) in Salemba, Central Jakarta, and the Indonesian Christian University (UKI) in East Jakarta, the latter causing an extremely heavy traffic congestion in the Cawang area.

During their protest, UI students burned tires on Jl. Diponegoro near their campus in Salemba, causing a traffic jam along Jl. Diponegoro.

"We just have a single demand, lower the fuel prices right now," a student repeatedly shouted through a microphone.

About 200 police officers, deployed to control the protests in Salemba, managed to drive the students back into their campus.

With their demonstration thwarted, students then turned against the police, pointing and jeering at them. The officers, however, were not provoked.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam said on Monday that the police had arrested at least 32 people during Monday's protests and public transportation strike in the capital.

Those arrested included students and angkot public transportation drivers. Nobody has been charged yet, Anton said.

Meanwhile, three of 12 people arrested during Saturday's strike in Ciputat have been officially charged. All three are members of the City Forum (Forkot), Anton noted.

Meanwhile, thousands of people were left stranded as public buses and minivans normally plying several routes to and from the Kampung Melayu bus terminal in East Jakarta began to leave the streets at 7 a.m. on Monday.

Terminal chief Abdul Rauf said that public vehicle drivers had returned to their respective pools in protest of the fuel price hike.

"The strike has totally paralyzed seven routes, namely routes to and from Bekasi, Pondok Kelapa, Perumnas Klender, Pondok Kopi, Cakung and Lampiri," he told The Jakarta Post.

He added that operators of buses and minivans serving the Keranji-Klender and Rawamangun-Klender routes had also joined the strike. The Mayasari buses which serve the Pulogadung and Mangga Dua routes also stopped operating at 9 a.m.

In Central Jakarta, public vehicles servicing the Tanah Abang- Kebon Jeruk, Tanah Abang-Kebayoran Lama, Tanah Abang-Kota and Senen-Kota routes had stopped by 1:30 p.m.

Following the strike, representatives of the city's Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda) met with Governor Sutiyoso to convey their proposal to increase angkot fares by 15 percent, an additional Rp 100 to Rp 300 on the current fares.

The city administration and city council approved the increase but said that the exact amount would need further consideration.

Strikes also hit Depok and Bogor where thousands of people were left stranded when public transport drivers began their strike at 8 a.m. on Monday.

The police deployed a number of trucks to transport people between Citeureup and Pasar Anyar and between Bojonggede and Pasar Anyar in Bogor.

Following the massive shutdown, the Bogor administration agreed to increase public transportation fares by 30 percent to Rp 800 per trip for the general public and Rp 500 for students.

"The fare increase to Rp 800 is just too high for us, it is far exceeding the increase of fuel prices," said Yati, 35, a resident of Ciomas, Bogor. (ylt/01/21)