Prabowo: There Should Be No Deviation Of MBG, Supervision Must Be Tightened

JAKARTA - President Prabowo Subianto claims that the government continues to tighten supervision regarding public complaints in the process of implementing the Free Food Program (MBG) as a form of state responsibility for the health of students.

This was conveyed by the President when inaugurating the 2025 Learning Digitization Program at SMPN 4 Bekasi City, West Java, in response to reports of a number of health problems experienced by students in the MBG program.

"Of the millions of shortages, some say poisoning. It's called stomach pain, actually, eating at a shop. I eat at home and often eat wrongly, sometimes I don't wash my hands, but we take over responsibility," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Monday, November 17.

President Prabowo asked the public not to immediately link it to the MBG program. He said the reported symptoms were generally more mild stomach pain, and could come from many factors.

Even so, the President emphasized that the government will continue to take full responsibility and ensure that all issues are handled seriously.

He instructed all parties involved to tighten preparations, ranging from hygiene procedures to the use of supporting equipment.

"There should be no deviation at all. Therefore, now there are more stringent preparations, stricter monitoring. Ompreng cleaning tools, water filtration devices, and so on must be prepared," he said.

President Prabowo also assessed that overall the community had benefited from the program.

The President believes that the benefits of the program will be increasingly felt along with the improvement of implementation in the field.

The President emphasized that the MBG program managed to reach 44 million beneficiaries in one year of implementation. This achievement surpassed a similar program in Brazil, which took 11 years to reach 40 million beneficiaries.

The Head of State reminded that large jobs are still waiting. The government targets MBG recipients to reach 82.9 million people.

"I ask for patience. This is people's money, it must be prepared properly so that irregularities do not occur," he said.