Jokowi Orders Crackdown on Arsonists: SE Asia Haze Update
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Indonesian President Joko Widodo ordered a crackdown against individuals and companies responsible for forest fires that have caused a dangerous haze in parts of Southeast Asia, disrupting air travel and closure of schools.
Jokowi, as Widodo is commonly known, held a limited cabinet meeting in Pekanbaru in Riau, one of the worst affected areas, late on Monday to review steps to fight the fires, his office said in a statement. The president directed the disaster mitigation agency to expand the scope of artificial rain even as authorities deployed an additional 5,600 troops and firefighters.