Maretha Uli, Jakarta – The government has ordered regional administrations to establish their own task forces to inspect free meals kitchens and promised incentives for complying regions, which critics warned will only shift oversight responsibilities to regions already under tight fiscal constraints.
Home Minister Tito Karnavian issued on Wednesday a circular instructing governors, mayors and regents to immediately create the task forces in charge of assessing kitchens' compliance with standards set by the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), including food quality, kitchen hygiene, waste management and beneficiary evaluations.
The teams may be led by regional heads themselves or officials from health, education or agriculture agencies and will report findings and recommendations to the agency. Previously, the program was directly overseen by the BGN's monitoring and supervision deputy.
A key campaign promise of President Prabowo Subianto launched in January last year to fight malnutrition, the multitrillion-rupiah program has been facing mounting public pushback over its huge budget, recurring food poisoning incidents, lack of transparency and allegations of corruption.
"The Home Ministry is very committed to making this program successful. As the institution responsible for guiding regions, we're encouraging local administrations to contribute to its success," Tito said after a briefing to local leaders.
As of October, 230 regions have already formed the task force. Tito gave the remaining regions one week to comply.
He said provinces, regencies and cities that showed "the strongest support for the free meals program and creatively ensured its success" would each be rewarded with fiscal incentives worth Rp 3 billion (US$165,007) to 1 billion depending on their performance.
The ministry has allocated Rp 1 trillion in total, which will be distributed in three batches this year. But Tito did not reveal the timeline.
Tito said the free meals program's success would reflect not only on the central government but also the regions. "Take advantage of this program to improve your performance and image, which will affect your popularity and electability," he said, referring to the local leaders. "It's your loss if you don't."
BGN head Sudaryono said establishing task forces was part of an effort to involve a wider range of stakeholders in monitoring the program.
"We realize there is a gap in control between the BGN at the central level and more than 26,000 kitchens across Indonesia," he said, describing the task forces as "local police chiefs of the BGN".
In addition, all kitchens must install security cameras connected to the BGN headquarters so it can monitor food preparation.
However, burdening regional administrations with oversight of a national program would be unfair, particularly if they lack the authority to manage it while carrying out other duties, said Herman Suparman, executive director of think tank Regional Autonomy Watch (KPPOD).
"Don't just impose burdens without sufficient fiscal support," he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday, arguing that regional finances were already under pressure as the central government cut regional transfers to prioritize Prabowo's flagship initiatives, including the free meals program.
Transfers to regional administrations fell 11.2 percent year-on-year (yoy) to Rp 357.4 trillion as of June 30, from Rp 402.5 trillion a year earlier. The cuts have left regions worried about their ability to carry their own programs.
Herman also noted that the central government still owed regions revenue-sharing funds. Offering incentives while those payments remained due, he argued, would "undermine the sense of fairness".
"This puts regional administrations in a position where they have to carry the central government directives under considerable pressure," Herman added. "They might end up having to reallocate resources and postpone their own priority programs."
Bhima Yudhistira of Center for Economic and Law Studies (Celios) described the incentive strategy as a "misleading tactic" to shift responsibility for the nationwide program to local administrations.
"Incentives won't help regional finances but instead conceal all the problems with the program and pass the burden to regions," he said. "If food poisoning or other problems arise in the future, regional administrations will be the ones blamed."
He added that oversight by local task forces would not address the program's underlying problems stemming from how it was initially designed. "If the [regions] and the public are only involved at the end, when problems have already emerged, the results won't be optimal."
Source: https://asianews.network/indonesian-government-passes-buck-on-free-meals-oversight