M. Rizki Yusrial, Jakarta – The kitchen partner of Prabowo's Free Meal program (MBG) at the Nutrition Fulfillment Service Unit (SPPG) in Kalibata, South Jakarta, plans to pursue legal action after incurring a loss of nearly Rp1 billion, precisely Rp975,375,000.
Danna Harly Putra, the legal representative, explained that the loss was suffered because his client, Ira Mesra, as a partner, has not received a single penny in payment since the kitchen began operating in February 2025.
Harly stated that the legal action will be in the form of a civil lawsuit and reporting to the police. "Therefore, against the foundation's action of not paying a single penny of our client's rights in the implementation of the Free Nutritious Meal, we will take legal action," said Harly at a press conference in Kalibata on Tuesday, April 15, 2025.
Harly and his client hope that this legal action will draw attention from the government to better supervise the implementation of the Makan Bergizi Gratis program. Harly also urged for periodic evaluations of this program to be conducted.
"So that incidents like this will not happen again. And also, we hope there will soon be a platform for complaints for the MBG program," he said.
Harly detailed the nearly one billion rupiah loss based on the approximately 65,025 portions prepared by Ira as a partner, which were carried out in two stages.
In addition, Harly conveyed that from the start, his client was not aware of the difference in the price per portion of rice provided for early childhood education (PAUD), kindergarten, and elementary school (SD) levels. The breakdown is that for PAUD, kindergarten, and SD grades 1 to 3, the price per portion is Rp13,000, while for grades 4 to 6 it is Rp15,000. Meanwhile, the contract stipulated that the cost per portion for all levels of education is Rp15,000.
Ira only found out about this price difference after the kitchen had already been operating. The problem is, she had already served meals for PAUD, kindergarten, and SD grades 1 to 3 with portion quality worth Rp15,000, whereas the price per portion for these levels should have been Rp13,000. Harly also mentioned that she still received a deduction of Rp2,500 from that price per portion.
In addition to providing food, Ira in this case also bears all operational costs, starting from food materials, rent, electricity, kitchen equipment, to paying the cooks. However, until now, Harly said, Ira has not received a single penny from the MBG foundation