JAKARTA: Thousands of Indonesians protested in Jakarta and other cities on Wednesday against economic hardship, graft and the government's handling of devastating wildfires emitting a toxic haze that has made thousands ill. Police said about 14,000 officers, as well as soldiers, had been deployed to keep a lid on the demonstrations in Jakarta.
The protest organising committee, which calls itself SADAR, meaning "aware" in Bahasa Indonesia, said the action was meant to mark a "revolution that is being proclaimed". The group is demanding that the government declare a national emergency to unlock more resources to fight wildfires across the vast archipelago. Deforestation monitor Nusantara Atlas says the blazes have destroyed more than 1.9 million hectares in the nine months to September.
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