As Fresh Air Becomes a Luxury, Many Indonesians Turn on Their Leader

After more than four months of living under the shroud of wildfire haze in Indonesian Borneo and keeping his young sons indoors, Kurniawan rues voting for President Prabowo Subianto. Far to the west, on the island of Sumatra, Rama has the same regret. He has developed chest pain and breathing difficulties due to the bad air. Mr. Prabowo’s government has struggled to contain the wildfires — which are being fueled by El Niño and human activity like slash-and-burn farming — and are among the worst on record in Indonesia.

And his administration has refused to declare them a national disaster, a label that would ease the entry of foreign aid. “The situation has gotten so severe, yet, instead of empathy, the government is turning a blind eye to our suffering,” said Rama, who like other voters interviewed for this article asked to be identified only by part of his name to speak freely about the country’s leader. The haze has spread hundreds of miles across national borders to Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, raising fears of a regional health crisis .

And for millions of Indonesians, particularly in Borneo and Sumatra, it has compounded cost of living woes by making fresh air a luxury. Image A wildfire in West Kalimantan Province, in Indonesian Borneo, in September. Credit... Ulet Ifansasti for The New York Times We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.

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