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Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Organisazation of Land Tranport Businessmen (Organda) is to call a nation-wide strike by its members if the government rejects its proposal to be allowed to continue buying fuel oil at the old subsidized price, its leader said.

"We are resolved to stage a nation-wide strike. We will do it so that passengers no longer need to pay the arbitrarily inflated fares as they do now. The public was already carrying a heavy economic burden so we should not add to their hardships," Organda Chairman Murphy Hutagalung said here Monday.

He was commenting on a directive issued by Transporation Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal allowing inter-provincial, city and rural land transportation operators to raise their economy class rates by not more than 15 percent following the increase in fuel oil prices.

Hutagalung said the proper ceiling for increases in public transport fares was 20 percent to 30 percent as the rates had not been adjusted for the past two years whereas according to an agreement with the authorities an adjustment would be made once every six months.

He said the government should side with public transport operators by giving them smart cards with which they could buy fuel oils at the old subsidized price. It this was done, economy class public transport passengers would not need to pay higher fares as they were doing now.

Organda`s proposal was adopted at a recent meeting of representatives of its 33 provincial branches and would be submitted to the government soon. "If the government does not respond favorably to our proposal within one week`s time, we will strike," he said.

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