JAKARTA - President Prabowo Subianto responded to criticism of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program by presenting data on achievements and policy reasons. He said that since the launch, the program has been ridiculed and judged to fail, including from the educated.
"When I launched this program, I was ridiculed... they predicted that this project would fail," said Prabowo when attending the groundbreaking and inauguration of the Nutrition Fulfillment Service Unit (SPPG) and the National Police food security warehouse in Palmerah, West Jakarta, Friday, February 13.
According to Prabowo, the MBG program is needed by the majority of the people, especially families with vulnerable economic conditions. He alluded to the stunting figure which had been in the range of 25 percent and assessed that the problem could not be solved only with theories or slogans, but through direct government intervention as in various countries.
The President also explained the development of the implementation of the program. He stated that the number of beneficiaries had reached 60.2 million people. Meanwhile, the number of service kitchens or SPPG is said to have reached 22,275 units and is approaching 23,000 units spread across 38 provinces.
The funding for the program, continued Prabowo, comes from state budget efficiency, including the transfer of funds from meetings, seminars, conferences, and other activities that are considered less productive.
On the other hand, Prabowo admitted that there were reports of health problems in some beneficiaries. He said he received information that around 28,000 people had complaints such as poisoning or stomach pain, but asked that the data be verified again.
"There are reports of 28,000 who have experienced disturbances, if I'm not mistaken. Please verify," he said.
However, he stated that the figure was equivalent to about 0.0006 of the total recipients and concluded that the success rate of the program was in the range of 99.99 percent.
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