Kohar, 52, a sidewalk vendor of fried foods at the Kampung Melayu Bus Terminal in East Jakarta, is getting very worried at the continuing rise of the price of three-kilogram containers of gas. In the past week alone, it went up from Rp17,000 to Rp 20,000 per container. Under normal conditions, it costs Kohar Rp13,000. With the price increase, his profits keep getting eroded by nearly half, or Rp30,000 per day.

Not only is the price of gas soari