| |
JAKARTA - Indonesia's president appealed for calm as police fired tear-gas to disperse rock-throwing students protesting against a controversial fuel-price rise to be announced later Friday.
At least three policemen were injured in clashes as students burned tyres in front of the Indonesian Christian University's central Jakarta campus in an attempt to block traffic.
The second increase of the year, which will take effect Saturday, comes after the government decided to cut fuel subsidies that were devouring one-fifth of Indonesia's annual budget.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, speaking at the opening of a Honda motorcycle factory east of Jakarta, urged protesters to express their opposition peacefully, saying violence would deter foreign investors.
"Don't act destructively. Don't create an image that our country is not safe. Never create a situation as if there were upheavals or riots," Yudhoyono was quoted by Detikcom news website.
Former president Suharto was brought down in 1998 after raising fuel prices amid a crippling economic crisis. The first rise this year also brought mass protests.
The president has said he was considering a hike of between 30 and 50 percent, and his spokesman said the rise would go ahead despite the demonstrations.
The amount of the increase will be announced at 10:00 pm (1500 GMT).
With world oil prices near record highs, Indonesia has been forced to slash the budget-busting fuel subsidies, which parliament this week capped at 89.2 trillion rupiah (8.7 billion dollars) for the year.
Indonesia has had to snap up dollars to buy more expensive fuel, putting the rupiah under pressure, while also supporting increased subsidies to keep domestic fuel prices artificially low.
Demonstrators took to the streets of many Indonesian cities and bus drivers in Jakarta went on strike on Thursday to express opposition to the price hike, although a pledged massive protest in the capital failed to materialize.
On Friday, students in the resort island of Bali hijacked a truck carrying fuel while protestors in the Central Java city of Semarang forced four legislators to join their march to the governor's office.
Meanwhile, students in Makassar on Sulawesi island blocked the streets and held Muslim Friday prayers there, causing massive traffic jams, Detikcom news website reported.
Police have deployed thousands of personnel to guard government buildings and fuel sites but analysts said they did not expect the kind of uprising that helped bring down Suharto.
In March, the government raised prices by an average of 29 percent, and the current cost of a litre (0.2 gallons) of premium petrol is 2,400 rupiah (23 US cents).
Kerosene, widely used in poor households for cooking and lighting, was left unchanged at 700 rupiah per litre, and it was not known if the government would exempt it again.
To cushion the impact on the poor, the government said it would accompany Saturday's hike with a short-term subsidy of 300,000 rupiah to more than 15 million poor households, as well as incentives for the industry.
On Thursday, Yudhoyono said the government was "doing its best to overcome problems faced by the nation and the state." - AFP/ir
|
