Cracks in free meals programme


Hungry minds: Prabowo (second right) in a classroom at the Jati 05 Pagi State Elementary School as part of his inspection of the recently launched nationwide free nutritious meals programme, in East Jakarta. — AFP

President Prabowo Subianto conducted “an impromptu visit” to several schools in Jakarta to observe the implementation of his flagship free nutritious meals programme.

Problems surrounding the programme have emerged, including incidents of food poisoning, delivery delays and partners allegedly withdrawing from the programme because of delayed payments from the National Nutrition Agency (BGN).

During the Monday visit, Prabowo observed meal distribution at State Elementary School (SD) 05 Jati and State Kindergarten (TK) 02 in Pulogadung, East Jakarta, where he spoke with teachers to assess the programme’s implementation.

He later inspected a designated kitchen in Rawamangun, where meals are prepared before delivery to schools.

Since the programme launched on Jan 6, concerns have emerged regarding its implementation. Recent social media reports suggested that some small and medium enterprise (SME) partners had withdrawn because of late reimbursements.

BGN head Dadan Hindayana, however, was quick to deny the claims.

“So far, none of the BGN’s partners have resigned,” Dadan told reporters at the Senayan parliament complex on Monday.

He clarified that those reportedly withdrawing were parties that had failed to pass the verification process, not official programme partners.

But he also reassured that the reimbursement system for the free nutritious meals programme would no longer be used starting in February.

The payment for programme partners will now be made through a virtual account using the lump sum method, Dadan said as reported by Tempo, noting that partners will not have to worry about late reimbursements as they will be paid upfront.

He added that the detailed payment mechanism is still being discussed at the BGN.

“We are arranging the terms to ensure that starting in February, payments will no longer be reimbursed but will be made upfront using state funds,” Dadan said.

In addition to the issue of delayed payments to partners, the free nutritious meals programme has faced criticism because of various operational problems in its first month.

In several districts across Indonesia, dozens of students have fallen ill and experienced diarrhoea after consuming the provided meals. There have also been reports of delivery delays from kitchens to schools, causing children to have late lunches. — The Jakarta Post/ANN

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