By IINA,
Jakarta : Students have protested in the Indonesian capital after the government announced an increase in the cost of fuel. Angry students hurled molotov cocktails at police in protest against a 33 percent gasoline price hike announced yesterday to rein in subsidies that are exploding along with world oil prices. More than 100 protesters were arrested as students burned tires and threw homemade fire-bombs outside the National University in Jakarta in response to the midnight price hike, AFP reported quoting police. Other rallies broke out in the second city of Surabaya, where students commandeered a fuel truck from state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina, and in Bandung where hundreds of hardline Muslims marched through the streets.
The price hike took effect at midnight in response to soaring global oil prices and a ballooning subsidy bill that is straining the budget and sucking state funds away from basic services and infrastructure. Long queues formed at petrol stations ahead of the announcement Friday and 26 demonstrators were arrested at a protest at the presidential palace overnight. Millions of Indonesians live on less than $2 a day and protesters say higher fuel prices combined with the recent surge in the cost of food will put an intolerable strain on family budgets.
Indonesian motorists are now paying 33.3% more to fill their tanks with premium gasoline at 6,000 rupiah (65 cents) a litre, while diesel fuel for transportation has leapt 27.9% to 5,500 rupiah. “We will fight against this abuse of power by the government. It’s unacceptable,” protest organizer Wardah Hafidz, of the Urban Poor Consortium, said.
“The fuel hike will be followed by rises in the price of basic food, education and transport fares, meaning more people won’t have money to educate or feed their children. This country will collapse.”
Vice President Jusuf Kalla defended the police, at least four of whom were injured in the protests. “Police have to be firm against any anarchic protests. Protesters that block the roads must be arrested. Democracy doesn’t allow any road-blocking,” he was quoted as saying by Detikcom online news service. The price hike has sparked protests across the sprawling archipelago of 234 million people since it was flagged earlier this month by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The president had promised not to raise fuel costs until after elections next year, but with oil prices smashing records above $130 a barrel this week the government felt it had no choice but slash subsidies. To soften the blow, Jakarta is offering direct cash transfers to the poor amounting to 14.1 trillion rupiah ($1.5 billion).
The government was at pains to point out that even with the price hike Indonesians still enjoyed some of the cheapest fuel in the world. But Vice President Kalla said the government was not afraid to adjust prices even higher in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy if the oil markets continued to climb. The last fuel price rise in Indonesia was a whopping 126% in 2005, sparking mass demonstrations but no long-term unrest.