Eni Saragih: Nutritious Foods Don't Be Nazirious

Eni Maulani Saragih and Eddy Wijaya. (Doc. Eddy Wijaya)

JAKARTA - Member of the Indonesian House of Representatives for the 2014-2018 period, Eni Maulani Saragih said the Free Nutrition Food (MBG) program which was started in early January must be right on target. Eni emphasized this so that the food in President Prabowo Subianto's flagship program is not wasted, aka wasteful.

Karena banyak orang-orang yang sudah mampu sebenarnya. Jangan sampai makanan yang sudah dibuat tidak makan, akhirnya mubazi. Menurut saya, pemerintah harus membuat target tertentu, penyestinya harus tepat, ujar politikus Golkar tersebut saat berbincang dengan Eddy Wijaya dalam podcast EdShare On yang tayang pada Rabu, 8 Januari 2024.

The MBG program began to be held on Monday, January 6, 2025. The government allocated a budget of IDR 71 trillion for this program throughout 2025. The ration per portion is set at IDR 10,000 with beneficiaries consisting of toddlers, students, PAUD, TK, SD, SMP, SMA, and pregnant women, as well as breastfeeding mothers.

According to Eni, the budget prepared by the government in 2025 is sufficient to meet children's nutritional needs, but what is a problem is the ability of each region to prepare food ingredients and their various prices. That's why the budget needs, for example, between Java and Papua, cannot be equated," he said. The state must be present for all children in any area, including Papua. Although it may be in the top areas of the mountain there," Eni added.

The wife of the Regent of Temanggung for the period 2018-2023, Muhammad Al Khadziq stated that she had experience in the Free Nutrition Food program because her husband was launched while serving as regent of Temanggung to prevent stunting. The program succeeded in reducing the stunting prevalence rate in the region to 14.1% from the previous 16.3% in 2023.

However, Eni admitted to finding a number of obstacles that should be watched out for by the National Nutrition Agency, the institution appointed by President Prabowo, for the MBG program. Sometimes we have prepared a good food, but the children don't want to eat yet. It's not easy because they just want to eat, for example, instant noodles or snacks. The cooking is easy, preparing the funds has also been done, but making sure the food is consumed, which is an obstacle," said Eni.

To overcome these obstacles, Eni explained, the government must pay attention to the free meal menu, such as variety of dishes and providing various side dishes. But what is no less important is to grow the habits of parents or children to consume nutritious foods every day. This is extraordinary because the state is here for children. We have to fight for this," he said.

Eni hopes that the government will continue to try to improve and evaluate the MBG program in order to meet the target of creating healthy, capable, and intelligent children to become potential leaders of the nation. "As long as there are not many budgets used for those who are not, for example for public kitchens because there are many kitchens. The most important thing is how this program becomes a joint movement, mutual cooperation, don't give everything to contractors or vendors, for example," Eni added.

Mining Mouth PLTU Is A Cheap Electricity Solution

To Eddy Wijaya, Eni Maulani Saragih suggested that the government pay more attention to the construction of the Mouth Mining Steam Power Plant (PLTU). This was in response to President Prabowo Subianto's plan to build 75 new and renewable Energy Plants (EBT).

"So we still build the Mouth Mining PLTU because we really have a lot of reserves (low-calorie coal). The EBT launched by Pak Prabowo also continues because we still want the world to be safer with green energy," said Eni.

PLTU Mouth Tambang is a power generation technology that is located parallel to the coal mine location. Its existence, which is adjacent to this energy source, is believed to save logistics or transportation costs of around 30 percent compared to ordinary PLTU.

The politician who was born in Jakarta, May 13, 1970, said that in addition to the availability of low-calorie coal, which amounted to billions of tons and was cheaper, the Mining Mouth PLTU also has other advantages such as reducing air pollution. Maybe now we feel that electricity is getting more expensive but by building a dream Mining Mouth PLTU for cheap electricity it will be achieved," said Eni.

Nevertheless, Eni said the construction of the Mouth Mining PLTU had a number of obstacles, including the licensing process and various requirements that required relatively longer management. If the state is present to launch this program (PLTU Mouth Tambang) seriously, it must be properly guarded. Don't let anyone slow this down, whether (officials) at its PLN, in its local government, in its human resources, must be dismissed," he said.

Eni said the infrastructure development of cheap power plants would greatly help boost economic growth by 8 percent as targeted by President Prabowo. "I want to do anything if the energy is expensive, the electricity is expensive, we will not be able to compete with anyone," he said.

Who Is Eddy Wijaya Really, Here's The Profile

The figure of Eddy Wijaya is a podcaster who was born on August 17, 1972. Through the @EdShareOn YouTube account, Eddy interviewed many national figures ranging from state officials, legal experts, political experts, national politicians, to Indonesian celebrities. The man with the characteristics of the right cheek dimple is also a nationalist who is a struggling activist for discriminated and social observers by helping the community through the Wijaya Peduli Bangsa foundation.

He is also active in the field of sports by serving as the Daily Chair of the All-Indonesian Equestrian Sports Association (Pordasi) Pacu and has also served as Deputy Chairperson of the All-Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) in East Jakarta. His ideas were formed because of his hard work to be independent from the age of 13 years until his success as he is now. For Eddy, the world of work is not as smooth as imagined, failure and rejection are commonplace. This is what makes him hold on to the tagline Success is just a matter of time delayed.