Jokowi orders crackdown on arsonists: SE Asia haze update

Joko Widodo, Indonesia's president, directed the disaster mitigation agency to expand the scope of artificial rain and add more troops and firefighters. Photographer: Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg

JAKARTA: 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.