Bandung students reject electricity hike

BANDUNG: Students coming from the Indonesia Muslim Students Joint Action (KAMMI) in Bandung staged a protest Friday rejecting the government's plan to raise the electricity rate by 6 to 20 percent starting next month.

KAMMI leader in Bandung Syamsul Maarief said the plan would only burden the poor more.

"The domino impact of the hike includes efficiency measures taken by companies, which may include workers' dismissal," he said.

He said state electricity company PLN continued to claim it had suffered a financial loss despite regular price hikes. "It means the government did not perform an audit *against the company* in a transparent way." - JP