Fuel price rise tests Indonesia leader’s poverty pledge

JAKARTA: In an old cemetery in the Indonesian capital, Enur’s family and others live in makeshift houses between tombstones, a handful of the millions of poor people that new President Joko Widodo has pledged to help.

But Widodo’s promise to close a fast-growing wealth gap is looking tougher after his decision last week to hike subsidized fuel prices, which observers warn will hit the poor hard as food prices rocket due to higher transportation costs.