Jakarta - Anti-government rallies didn't abate Thursday as the Indonesian government was set to pay the equivalent of 1.55 billion dollars cash to about 19.1 million impoverished families to help them cope with the impact of planned fuel price hikes.

Sporadic protests continue to sweep through more than a dozen cities across the vast archipelago nation for a fourth-straight day, opposing the government's plan to cut subsidies and raise domestic fuel prices.

In the central Java capital of Semarang, dozens of student protestors marched to a regional state-run radio station, demanding a live broadcast of their opposition against the fuel price hikes, Elshinta private radio station reported.

A brief scuffle between protestors and police broke out in east Java district of Malang, while rallies took place simultaneously in five other cities in the province, demanding the government abort the fuel price hikes.

Triggered by rising global oil prices, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono indicated earlier this month that the government will raise fuel prices by as much as 30 per cent in order to safeguard the state budget.

Yudhoyono has also issued a presidential disbursement of 14.1 trillion rupiah (1.55 billion dollars) in a direct cash scheme to cushion the price hike's impact on the poor.

Many of Indonesia's more than 225 million people live on less than 2 dollars a day and are already suffering from the impact of high food prices.

Welfare Minister Aburizal Bakrie estimated the number of eligible to receive the direct cash handouts at around 19.1 million families, or 76.4 million people, with each household receiving a direct cash payment of 100,000 rupiah (11 dollars) per month in a quarter.

"The first phase of the programme will cover a period of seven months until December," Aburizal was quoted as saying by The Jakarta Post on late Wednesday, adding that the second phase of the programme will last through December 2009.

The government's plan to raise the fuel prices also sparked mounting opposition from lawmakers, where most parties were against the move, claiming it was a bid to win favour with voters in the upcoming elections, slated for next year.

Fuel price hikes have been a sensitive issue in Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation, since riots over a price hike in 1998 hastened the downfall of late president Suharto's dictatorship.

Indonesia is South-East Asia's only member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), but the country has changed its status from an oil exporter to a net crude oil importer in recent years due to sharply declining output.

In 2005 Indonesia raised the fuel price by 126 per cent, which sparking widespread street protests. (dpa)