Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Security situation in Indonesia is still on alert status one, which was imposed after President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo announced an increase in the prices of subsidized fuels on Monday (November 17), a police spokesman said.
"The Indonesian police are still on high alert. This will continue till an assessment from the assistant to the police chief advices the police chief to lower the alert status," the chief of the public relations division at the Indonesian police headquarters, Insp. Gen. Ronny F. Sompie, stated here on Friday.
Alert status one was declared in anticipation of anarchic acts on the part of people opposed to the fuel price hike, he added.
The spokesman, however, noted that rallies staged to protest the fuel price hike so far had run peacefully in all parts of the country. "None of the demonstrators resorted to violence," Sompie affirmed.
The police force has reportedly deployed two-thirds of its personnel to contain possible disruptive situations in the wake of the governments decision to raise the prices of subsidized fuels on Monday night.
The Chief of the National Police, General Sutarman, assured in the premises of the Presidential Palace here on Tuesday that the security situation had been relatively conducive since the fuel price hike announcement.
To ensure that such a secure situation prevailed, he added that the ranks and files of the Indonesian police were on alert status one.
On Monday night, President Joko Widodo decided to increase the price of subsidized fuel, including premium fuel, from Rp6.5 thousand to Rp8.5 thousand per liter and that of diesel oil from Rp5.5 thousand to Rp7.5 thousand per liter.(*).
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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