Devolution hampers Jakarta's bid to end haze

Jakarta

HAVING promised to extinguish forest fires in Riau in western Indonesia by early October, President Joko Widodo jetted into Sumatra last week for a progress check. The smoke was so thick his plane could not land, forcing him back to Jakarta.

Exacerbated by dry conditions from El Nino, the haze has blown across South-east Asia, blanketing Singapore, parts of Indonesia and Malaysia in a smog that has closed schools and forced some people to flee their homes.

So far Mr Joko, known as Jokowi, is following a similar track to his predecessors: T…