JAKARTA - Indonesian Audit Watch (IAW) asked the government not only to focus on pursuing the target of distributing the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) Program. Strengthening must also be carried out so that the governance of the implementation of this strategic program is transparent, accountable, and provides legal certainty for all parties involved.
"When people's money moves in very large amounts, the question of governance is no longer an option, but a necessity," said IAW Founding Secretary Iskandar Sitorus to reporters quoted on Monday, July 27.
Iskandar said MBG is a strategic program aimed at improving the nutritional quality of schoolchildren, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and toddlers.
On the other hand, this program is also expected to be able to stimulate the economy through the involvement of farmers, livestock farmers, fishermen, cooperatives, to MSMEs in the food supply chain. But, the government must build a system because the success of MBG is not only measured by the number of operating kitchens and millions of meals distributed every day.
"Yang berpindah bukan sekadar nasi dan lauk. Yang ikut bergerak adalah uang rakyat," tegasnya.
Iskandar assessed that there were still urgent improvements to be made. Starting from changes to technical instructions, adjusting the capacity of the kitchen, closing the partner portal for the verification process, changing the legal relationship between the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), foundations, and partners to the emergence of suspected food poisoning which prompted evaluations in a number of areas.
"What is currently underway is actually a long process of building a new system that Indonesia has never done on this scale," he said.
Iskandar explained that this condition is inseparable from the fact that BGN is a new institution formed in August 2024. However, in a short time the institution immediately managed one of the largest social programs in Indonesia.
At the same time, BGN must build an organization, draft regulations, recruit human resources, prepare digital systems, payment mechanisms, choose partners, verify thousands of kitchens, and ensure that millions of meals are delivered every day.
As a result, the government has adjusted the rules several times in the middle of the program. According to Iskandar, policy changes are natural in the process of refinement, but changes that are too frequent without adequate transition periods have the potential to create uncertainty for partners who have invested in building kitchens, providing facilities, and recruiting labor.
Therefore, IAW encourages the government to maintain a balance between the need to improve the system and protection for people who have good intentions to follow the applicable provisions. Iskandar said legal certainty is an important condition so that the public is not harmed by policy changes in the middle of the program.
Furthermore, Iskandar emphasized that criticism of MBG should not be seen as an attempt to weaken government programs. On the contrary, evaluation is needed so that the big goal of improving human resources quality is not disturbed by weak governance.
"Criticism is not to bring down the program. Criticism is needed so that good programs are not damaged by weak governance. Large programs will be remembered not because of the size of the budget, but because of its ability to build public trust," he said.
He added that public trust is not built only through speeches, statistics, or financial reports, but rather from the government's willingness to improve the weaknesses found openly.
"Trust is not born only from speeches, statistical figures, or financial reports. Trust is born when the community sees that the state dares to improve itself whenever it finds weaknesses," said Iskandar.
"The state kitchen is not enough to produce food. The state kitchen must produce trust. The best size of MBG is not only how many million portions are distributed, but whether children become healthier, farmers and MSMEs grow, partners get certainty, the environment is protected, and every rupiah of state money can be accounted for," concluded Iskandar.
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