Poor people stage protest outside VP`s residence

Hundreds of poor people staged a protest rally against the government`s plan to raise domestic fuel oil prices at Vice President Jusuf Kalla`s private residence in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Saturday.

Their proters said if the government of Persident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla insisted on raising the fuel oil prices, it would increase the misery of the poor people in the country.

Therefore they urged the government to cancel its plan.

Guarded tightly by the police, the protesters then marched to the state oil company PT Pertamina`s marketing office on Jalan Garuda , about 500 meters from Kalla`s residence, to convey the same demand.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of students who called themselves South Sulawesi Deliberation Students Movement staged a similar protest rally at the Pertamina office on Jalan Garuda.

Coordinator of the rally, Muhammad Rain, said the government would only add to ...