Youths call on government to ban luxury car imports

Youths call on government to ban luxury car imports

JAKARTA (JP): Dozens of people calling themselves the Anti-
Luxury Cars Movement (GAMM), staged a rally at the Jakarta
Convention Center on Jl. Gatot Subroto, South Jakarta, on Monday
demanding the government ban the import of luxury cars.

The rally was held as hundreds of visitors inside the
convention center were gleefully attending Auto Expo 2000, the
largest automotive exhibition in the country, organized by the
Association of Indonesian Automotive Industries (Gaikindo).

Imported luxury cars is the main feature being highlighted in
the expo.

"The government has no sense of crisis at all!" shouted one of
the protesters. "While millions of people are starving, the
jobless multiplying and children are out of school, they lift the
ban on luxury cars! What were they thinking?"

The protesters then brought a mock model of a car with the
words "luxury car" written on it. They then poured gasoline on it
and set it ablaze.

"Today we only burned a model. Tomorrow don't blame us if we
burn the real ones!" one of the protesters warned.

Several visitors, curious about the commotion, approached the
gate to see the rally. After seeing the protest, they went back
into the building and grinned.

The protesters also urged the people not to buy luxury cars.

"You government officials, businessmen, conglomerates and
other rich people, show your tolerance to the people who are now
suffering from the economic crisis. Do not buy luxury cars!"
another protester said.

In February, former minister of industry and trade Yusuf Kalla
issued a decree imposing a ban on the import of luxury vehicles
which seats fewer than 10 people in an attempt to reduce social
envy.

However, the ban which later also applied to imported
automobiles which have engine capacities of 4,000 cc and above or
price tags of more than US$40,000, was revoked on June 2 by the
new Minister of Industry and Trade Luhut Pandjaitan.

"The government is mocking starving people with their policy,"
leader of the movement MS. Jihad said.

"Luxury cars now roaming the streets will only spark social
envy....So don't blame them if, in the future, they burn these
luxury cars!" another protester said.

The protesters were mostly students from the Islamic Students
Association (HMI) and various nongovernmental organizations such
as Humanika. Several protesters then approached the entrance
gate, which had been locked by security personnel shortly before
they arrived, to the exhibition compound.

Among the popular and completely built-up (CBU) imported cars
was a BMW Z8 sports car, on sale for about Rp 2 billion
(US$250,000). The car was featured in the latest James Bond film.

The protest ended peacefully about half-an-hour later.

It is the country's first auto expo to display a wide range of
CBU vehicles. The week-long exhibition, jointly opened last
Wednesday by Minister of Industry and Trade Luhut Panjaitan and
Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications Agum Gumelar,
is slated to be closed on Tuesday. (jaw)