JAKARTA - Said Abdullah, Chairman of the House of Representatives Budget Committee (Banggar), responded to the proposal to halt the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program due to numerous problems, including mass poisoning. Said stated that the program is a priority for President Prabowo Subianto and must be supported.
According to him, rather than stopping it, it would be better to evaluate and conduct early detection of the root causes of the MBG.
"The President's Priority Program, Free Nutritious Meals, is a good thing, and we must encourage it. The government must immediately investigate the situation, as we have read in various media outlets, at the Parliament Complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Tuesday, September 23.
"Where are the issues and what are the causes? Is it because the supply chain from the Food Service Providers (SPPG) to schools is too long? Since one SPPG serves 3,000 people, can that be shortened? One SPPG is sufficient for 1,500. This way, the free nutritious meals that arrive at schools are still fresh from the oven," added the legislator from the Madura electoral district, East Java XI.
Said explained that the Presidential Chief of Staff had reported that 5,300 to 5,800 students had been poisoned by MBG. However, Said argued that, amidst this concern, stopping MBG is not the solution.
"Everyone has a duty to be concerned. But that doesn't mean it has to be stopped. No. It's better to detect the problem early, to find out where it lies. Is it because people are only cooking at 2 a.m., while at 12 a.m., that's already 14 hours apart? So, a new approach is needed," Said said.
Said assessed that the National Nutrition Agency, as the organizer of MBG, must inventory the problem and then evaluate it. This is to prevent MBG poisoning and other issues from recurring.
"The first thing isn't the evaluation; the first thing is to inventory the problem. After that, a comprehensive evaluation can be conducted. Because not everyone is poisoned. We are also being careful, as this concerns our students, the ones who are poisoned," he said.
Regarding the proposal to replace MBG with direct cash assistance to parents, Said stated that this option is the government's domain.
"There are three instruments that can be implemented. The government can directly distribute DAK, districts. The government can also use it through the Family Hope Program (PKH). If PKH currently provides IDR 300,000 per month, we will add IDR 300,000. But the IDR 300,000 is for MBG. Or the SPPG can be brought closer to schools. As for the Budget Committee (Banggar), that's the Banggar's way of thinking. Well, those options are the government's domain," Said concluded.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
