Minister of Finance Purbaya: Enough Sumatra Disaster Fund, No Need to Transfer MBG

JAKARTA - Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa stated that the budget for disaster handling, including for post-disaster recovery in Sumatra, was available and sufficient so that there was no need to transfer funds for the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) Program.

The Minister of Finance explained that the government had prepared a budget allocation for disaster handling of Rp. 60 trillion.

"The money is enough, we have provided Rp. 60 trillion," he said when asked about his response to the request of members of the DPR to divert the MBG budget for post-disaster recovery in Sumatra.

Purbaya explained that the actual needs proposed at this time to recover Aceh, West Sumatra, and North Sumatra, after the recent flood reached around Rp. 51 trillion.

With the availability of this budget, Purbaya said the government remained committed to implementing the MBG Program as planned.

He stated that there was no policy to interfere with or transfer the MBG budget because the financing needs for disaster handling were accommodated in the existing budget item.

"So enough, so we will not interfere with the MBG program," he said.

Previously, a number of DPR members proposed transferring part of the MBG budget to accelerate the handling of floods and landslides that hit the Sumatra region.

Deputy Chairman of Commission IX of the House of Representatives, Charles Honorismenilai, the distribution of MBG during the school holidays is at risk of being ineffective so that the funds are more urgently allocated for the recovery of refugee nutrition and the improvement of health facilities in disaster-affected areas.

Responding to the proposal, the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) emphasized that the decision to change the allocation of the budget was the full authority of the President and the Ministry of Finance.

Despite the push to divert funds for emergencies, BGN is currently still running the MBG program scheme during the holiday period by sending food packages directly to students' homes to ensure that the target for absorbing the budget is still met according to the initial plan.