Bandung, Indonesia (News Today) - Dozens of Muslim students burned used tires outside the Gedung Sate building here on Friday in a show of sympathy with victims of 3-kg gas cylinder blasts in West Java province. The Gedung Sate building among other things houses the provincial legislative council.
"The government has given households time bombs in the form of gas canisters that can explode any time," the rally’s coordinator, Janur Mulyadi, said.
Supervision of substandard 3-kg gas cylinders, seen by many as the main cause of recent gas cylinder explosions, was still not enough, he said. The government still needed to do more to familiarize the public with safe use of 3-kg gas cylinders, he said.
"Why are the familiarization efforts only made after many people have fallen victim to the 3-kg gas cylinder explosions?" he asked.
Under the kerosene-to-gas conversion policy introduced in mid 2007, the government provided the poor with 3 kg-gas canisters plus stoves free of charge. It was adopted to slash kerosene subsidy in the state budget. The number of 3-kg cylinders distributed so far had reached about 60 million units.
Up to June 2010, a total of 33 blasts were recorded with 8 people killed and 44 others injured. In response to the recent string of gas cylinder blasts, the government has decided to withdraw substandard 3-kg gas cylinders from circulation.
On Thursday, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the government’s kerosene-to-gas conversion policy was not wrong as it was designed to improve the people’s welfare.
The President vowed to improve the policy by ordering relevant parties to take corrective steps and supervise the policy continuously. At the rally, the students grouped in the Indonesian Muslim Students Association (HMI) also protested against the government’s decision to raise power tariffs for the industrial sector.
"Once again, the government has issued a policy which ignores the people’s welfare," Janur said.
Source : kompas
Friday, August 6, 2010
In Sympathy with Gas Cylinder Blast Victims in Indonesia
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