Organizations Oppose Plan To Hike Subsidized Fuel Prices

Jakarta, Nov 11 (Antara) - A group of six organizations held a rally here on Tuesday in protest against the government`s plan to increase subsidized fuel prices. "Fuel price rise will burden poor people and laborers," Mukhtar Guntur Kilta, the field coordinator of the National Union Confederation (KSN), said here on Tuesday. According to him, the new government under Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Jusuf Kalla (JK) has decided to increase fuel oil prices. Though the government has not yet announced the date of the hike, Chief Economic Minister Sofyan Djalil had said that fuel oil prices would be raised before January 2015. Mukhtar noted that the government`s statement that fuel subsidy was mostly enjoyed by middle-class and upper middle-class people who owned cars was not true. The number of people who ride motorcycles is higher than that of private car users. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics` data, the number of motorcycles in 2012 was 76.4 million while that of four-wheelers was only 10.4 million. "A fuel oil price hike will not only affect private vehicle users but public transportation operators as well," he pointed out while issuing a joint statement. He warned that fuel oil price hike will also increase the prices of other products and subsequently lead to inflation. He also reminded that the highest annual inflation rate was recorded in the 2008-2013 period following a fuel oil price hike. Mukhtar remarked it was saddening that the government was planning to increase fuel oil prices when the poor and laborers were still facing several problems. "We hope the government would first look at the people`s living conditions and realize that some of them are not yet prosperous. The government should not add to their sufferings by raising the price of fuels," he emphasized. The groups that staged the protest included the KSN, Union for Indonesia People`s Struggle (SPRI), Progressive Students Association of the University of Indonesia, IISP Students Forum, Jakarta Street Artists, and People`s Workers Party. In the meantime, tens of people from several organizations staged a rally outside the Merdeka Palace to protest the Jakarta city government`s policy to demolish slums in the capital. "The demolition budget fund in Jakarta has increased sharply in 2014," said the spokesman for the Indonesian People`s Struggle Federation, Marlo Sitompul. Sitompul noted that the demolition budget allocated by the city public works office jumped to Rp3.9 trillion in 2014 from Rp79.4 billion in 2013. The demonstrators also questioned bylaw number 8 of 2007 regarding public order, he added. He explained that the bylaw had the potential to legitimize the demolition of slums in the capital and urged the city government to issue an anti-demolition bylaw. "The number of demolished slums has increased to 80 this year from 71 in 2013," he pointed out. Besides the SPRI, several other organizations also staged rallies outside the Merdeka Palace on Tuesday to protest against the government`s plan to raise the prices of subsidized fuel oils. They also urged the government to revise the manpower minister`s regulation number 13 of 2012, regarding official descent living standards, and to build an alternative party based on workers` interests.