Indonesia urged to halt $10 billion free school meals plan after mass food poisoning

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By Ananda Teresia and Bernadette Christina

JAKARTA (Reuters) -Health-focused non-governmental organisations on Monday urged the government to temporarily halt President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship free school meals programme, days after 500 children became sick in the biggest mass food poisoning outbreak so far.

The $10 billion programme has reached more than 20 million recipients since its January launch, and is rapidly being scaled up in a bid to reach 83 million women and children by year end. But the programme has faced a number of setbacks in supplies and preparation.

Food poisoning from the free meals has affected 6,452 children nationwide, which was “a systemic failure,” Network for Education Watch (JPPI) head Ubaid Matraji told a parliamentary committee, saying the government must stop the programme to put in place stronger oversight.

The committee overseeing health issues was briefed on the concerns about the programme by six NGOs, including the Center for Indonesia’s Strategic Development Initiatives (CISDI), Movement for Mother and Child Health, and Network for Education Watch.

CISDI, which also proposed the suspension of the programme, was concerned there was no mechanism set by the government to evaluate kitchens with food poisoning cases or to prevent such outbreaks, its senior analyst Iqbal Hafizon, told the hearing.

The NGOs also urged the National Nutrition Agency, which runs the programme, to pay more attention to the nutritional value of the food provided, saying that most of the menu still used ultra-processed items, which are considered unhealthy. 

“The distribution of ultra-processed food has changed the main goal of providing nutritious food and it could trigger non-communicable diseases,” said doctor Tan Shot Yen of the Mother and Child Movement.    

She said her organisation proposed a suspension of the free meals programme in kitchens with food poisoning cases.

The committee’s deputy head Charles Honoris promised to deliver these proposals to the National Nutrition Agency, but reiterated that the programme is strategic and will be executed.

This year’s 171 trillion rupiah ($10.30 billion) budget is expected to be doubled to next year. 

In a news conference on Monday, the head of the National Nutrition Agency, Dadan Hindayana, did not respond to questions on the calls for the suspension of the program, but said the agency regrets the food poisoning cases. He also said that out of 1 billion portions served there had been 4,711 cases of suspected poisoning and that the government would investigate.

(Reporting by Ananda Teresia and Bernadette Christina; Editing by Gibran Peshimam)