Anastasya Lavenia Y, Jakarta – Deputy Chair of the Gerindra Party, Rahayu Saraswati, said the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program is currently still in the trial stage before being implemented in 2025.
"We still have many trial activities, socializations, preparations, because it requires approximately 48,000 kitchens across Indonesia and may also need to be seen from the budget," said Rahayu when met at the Parliamentary Complex, Senayan, Jakarta on Monday, October 28, 2024.
Rahayu also states that the realization of the Free Nutritious Meal program requires a huge effort. Therefore, she said, this program will be carried out gradually. "We have conveyed that yesterday during the campaign period, that not directly 82 million recipients will receive it in the first year," she said.
Free Nutritious Meal is one of the campaign promises of Prabowo and Gibran. The government has allocated Rp 71 trillion from the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN) for the implementation of the program.
The Coordinator of the Food Sector of the Directorate of Food and Agriculture of the Ministry of National Development Planning/National Development Planning Agency (PPN/Bappenas), Ifan Martino, revealed that the funds used for the pilot project of the MBG program did not come from the APBN.
"The budget is outside of the Rp 71 trillion, as far as we know. Not from the APBN," said Ifan when met in the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium (GBK) area, Central Jakarta on Friday, October 25, 2024. However, Ifan declined to disclose the funding source used for the pilot project designed by Bappenas, as it is confidential.
Meanwhile, President Prabowo Subianto has established 85 unit offices of Free Nutritious Meal service that are currently being tested in all provinces. State Secretary Minister (Mensesneg) Prasetyo Hadi mentioned that the service units are prepared ahead of the program implementation in early January 2025.
"This trial is not only in one place. We have trial sites that have been running for months. Approximately for 10 months now, there have been many evaluations," he said after attending the Red and White Cabinet Retreat at the Military Academy in Magelang, Central Java, on Sunday, October 27, 2024, quoted from Antara.
One of the service offices is currently located in Magelang, precisely on Jalan Jend. Gatot Soebroto, near Akmil. The Free Nutritious Meal Service Unit provides 3,000 to 4,000 servings for beneficiaries in Magelang. This unit coordinates the distribution of food with related parties.
Prasetyo promised that these service units could be widely spread to reach the outermost coastal areas, outermost islands, including in Papua, starting from next year.
– Alfitria Nefi P and Hanin Marwah contributed to the writing of this article.