Free Nutrition Food For Pregnant Women In Jakarta Starting January 9

Acting (Pj) Governor of DKI Jakarta Teguh Setyabudi. (Diah-VOI)

JAKARTA - The implementation of a free nutritious food program (MBG) for school students simultaneously starts today. Acting (Pj) Governor of DKI Jakarta Teguh Setyabudi said, MBG for pregnant women in Jakarta will begin on Thursday, January 9.

This was revealed by Teguh after reviewing the distribution of MBG for students of SD Barunawati II, Palmerah, West Jakarta.

"Not only for elementary, junior high and high school school students but also for pregnant women. God willing, for the DKI area, starting January 9, this is a program that includes pregnant women," said Teguh, Monday, January 6.

Food served for students and in the future also targeting pregnant women to be prepared from each Nutrition Fulfillment Service Unit (SPPG) under the auspices of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN). The DKI Provincial Government, continued Teguh, plays a role in assisting the distribution process.

"We from the provincial government support location problems, then also witnesses, education, as well as support the execution, quality rather than food," said Teguh.

In addition, the Spokesperson for the Presidential Communication Office, Dedek Prayudi, said that the distribution of MBG for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, including toddlers will be carried out with two schemes, namely through an integrated service post (posyandu) and delivered to homes.

"But this 2 scheme certainly cannot be done for mothers whose pregnancy is already very large, right, because their mobility must be limited and then it is the posyandu cadre cadre who then pick up food routes from home," said Dedek.

For the record, the government officially runs the MBG program simultaneously in 26 provinces, covering 190 SPPGs or MBG kitchens.

The SPPG kitchens are scattered in the provinces of Aceh, Bali, West Sumatra, North Sumatra, Riau Islands, Riau, Lampung, Banten, West Java, DKI Jakarta, Central Java, East Java, DI Yogyakarta, Gorontalo, West Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, East Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, Maluku, North Maluku, East Nusa Tenggara, West Papua, and South Papua.

The government targets 937 MBG kitchens to be achieved by the end of January 2025 with the implementation carried out in stages in accordance with the readiness of each region.

During January to March 2025, it is hoped that the MBG program can touch three million beneficiaries, consisting of toddlers, students, PAUD, Kindergarten, SD, SMP, SMA, and pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers. This number will continue to grow to reach 15 million by the end of 2025.