Free meals for children (MBG) is it good as intended ??

[pantaiema]

Providing free meals for school children (MBG) is a great initiative if it is well prepared, the infrastructure and distribution are properly planned and adequately allocated in the state’s annual budget. However, when these elements are lacking, problems like this arise

Ratusan Siswa Keracunan, Wali Kota Kupang Minta MBG Dievaluasi

Wali Kota Kupang Christian Widodo menilai harus ada evaluasi MBG menyusul dugaan keracunan pada ratusan siswa SMP Negeri 8 Kota Kupang.

www.cnnindonesia.com

Widespread Poisoning, Parents in NTT Ban Children from Consuming MBG

Parents worried their children might be victims of poisoning. The Ombudsman asked the management to provide access to information about the MBG kitchen.

www.kompas.id

140 Siswa di Kupang Keracunan MBG, Waka Komisi IX DPR: Cabut Izin SPPG - Lentera Today Terkini, Berimbang, dan Terpercaya

Wakil Ketua Komisi IX DPR Charles Honoris

lenteratoday.com

140 students from SMPN 8 Kupang and 75 students from three schools in Southwest Sumba Regency got food poisoning. The Reported symptoms included nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, and itching, leading to several students being rushed to various hospitals in their respective areas.

The MBG budget, was initially estimated Rp71T but suddenly increase around 371% once the program is running. It is probably a deliberate underestimation to mislead people and decision makers..

https://www.inilah.com/ekonom-gara-gara-mbg-naik-371-persen-anggaran-tkd-dipangkas

There are still numerous urgent priorities to address, such as better health care for all people especially economically disadvantaged families instead of raising BPJS premiums, improving waste management facilities, implementing effective flood prevention strategies, and tackling risks that threaten not only people’s properties but also their lives. Also there are still reasonable number of children in Indonesia who are unable to attend school because they must help support their families and younger siblings

 

[Banana72]

As usual....government program that is poorly executed and forced even though the money is better used elsewhere or at least focus on really poor areas and maybe do a trial 1-2 days/week first instead of full blast 5 days a week everywhere. Do a pilot project first at least. I've seen some videos where trays upon trays of food being separated after being left uneaten or students taking the food home and by that time, the food has gone bad. Wasteful.

 

[Helpful Herbert]

This program is one of the main drivers behind the recent riots, because of all the budget cuts that had to be made to pay for it.

 

[Dave70]

This program is one of the main drivers behind the recent riots, because of all the budget cuts that had to be made to pay for it.

Is there possibility this MBG program will be cancelled?

Just like IKN (new capital), which is now at a standstill.

The government now has "excuse" to cancel it to allocate funds for buildings and other facilities damaged during the recent riots.

BTW, is rice still scarce and expensive (huge price increase AFTER Agriculture Minister ordered the inspection of rice mills)?

 

[centurion]

The MBG program is a good one. Besidies increasing nutritional value intake for the poor (60% of Indonesian population, with stunting of 20%) it serves as a giant subsidy to the local agriculture (exept for milk that is still imported). That should increase overall health, height and IQ of the kids.

The poisoning on such amount of meals is normal.

 

[centurion]

This program is one of the main drivers behind the recent riots, because of all the budget cuts that had to be made to pay for it.

This is unthrue.

 

[Balifrog]

This program is one of the main drivers behind the recent riots, because of all the budget cuts that had to be made to pay for it.

Not the MAIN driver. Just an indirect consequence.

 

[centurion]

Not the MAIN driver. Just an indirect consequence.

It is not even the main or other driver or indirect consequence. Considering the state budget, the biggest part was taken by Danantara (20 billion USD). And the economic decline is going for some time- the bill for inefficiency, corruption, red tape, pissing aginst the wind, came to be paid.

Meals are less than 5 billion-money that would be stolen anyway, but now going into agriculture.

 

[Dave70]

The poisoning on such amount of meals is normal.

You mean normal in Indonesia, but definitely unacceptable in advanced countries like Finland and Sweden.

Part of the problem is unexperienced/unqualified meal suppliers, for example, a contractor (for government road projects) venturing into the food business due to his existing connections in government. Indeed, he can hire experts or consultants, but what is his motivation to go into the business? Hopefully, it's not opportunism and greed. Ideally, suppliers must have track record in the food industry.

 

[centurion]

You mean normal in Indonesia, but definitely unacceptable in advanced countries like Finland and Sweden.

Part of the problem is unexperienced/unqualified meal suppliers, for example, a contractor (for government road projects) venturing into the food business due to his existing connections in government. Indeed, he can hire experts or consultants, but what is his motivation to go into the business? Hopefully, it's not opportunism and greed. Ideally, suppliers must have track record in the food industry.

Thank you can go and live in Sweden. It is a developed country where migrant gangs shoot and burn cars, and rape.

In such amount of meals, and mass production and at the start, contamination is possible. And the program does not work like that. Each kitchen has appointed supervisor by the government for ingredients acceptance and food preparation only, staf are (or should) be trained etc, and kitchens and all equipment are standardized as per HACCP (why poisoning occurs sometimes is a another question-contamination in food, not washing hands etc).

 

[Shadrach]

Thank you can go and live in Sweden. It is a developed country where migrant gangs shoot and burn cars, and rape.

In such amount of meals, and mass production and at the start, contamination is possible. And the program does not work like that. Each kitchen has appointed supervisor by the government for ingredients acceptance and food preparation only, staf are (or should) be trained etc, and kitchens and all equipment are standardized as per HACCP (why poisoning occurs sometimes is a another question-contamination in food, not washing hands etc).

This should be a no brainer! Of course People who handle food should be trained, and there should be a manager that is in charge of all aspects of the program. Such as fresh produce delivery, quality control, receiving what was ordered, proper kitchen facilities, trained personal, about what their responsibilities are, hygiene, (hand washing), maintaining proper food temperature to prevent spoilage, proper dish washing, etc. if this was done, there would be no waste, overspending, contamination, sick Children.
If there is a problem, then it is due to improper organization! Remember this is about Feeding Hungry Children!

 

[centurion]

This should be a no brainer! Of course People who handle food should be trained, and there should be a manager that is in charge of all aspects of the program. Such as fresh produce delivery, quality control, receiving what was ordered, proper kitchen facilities, trained personal, about what their responsibilities are, hygiene, (hand washing), maintaining proper food temperature to prevent spoilage, proper dish washing, etc. if this was done, there would be no waste, overspending, contamination, sick Children.
If there is a problem, then it is due to improper organization! Remember this is about Feeding Hungry Children!

If the meat/eggs/fish is contaminated before delivery, sometimes cannot be checked visually or by smell-means supplier is not reliable.

 

[Shadrach]

If the meat/eggs/fish is contaminated before delivery, sometimes cannot be checked visually or by smell-means supplier is not reliable.

Then in that case. There should be tighter supervision, on purchasing on all ingredients! And if contaminated food was supplied, the supplier should be given a hefty fine, to prevent this happening again! These are Children your feeding. The Future of Indonesia!

 

[pantaiema]

If the meat/eggs/fish is contaminated before delivery, sometimes cannot be checked visually or by smell-means supplier is not reliable.

A basic rule of common sense: if food poisoning is caused by raw ingredients such as meat, eggs, or fish rather than by poor practices in preparation, hygiene, proper storage, distribution or the like then everyone who bought those same raw materials from the same market, vendors, distributors would also fall ill. That is not what happened in the case reported above.

The MBG program is a good one. Besidies increasing nutritional value intake for the poor (60% of Indonesian population, with stunting of 20%) it serves as a giant subsidy to the local agriculture (exept for milk that is still imported). That should increase overall health, height and IQ of the kids.

The poisoning on such amount of meals is normal.

No one denies that MBG and efforts to reduce stunting among children are good initiatives IF they are well-prepared, with proper infrastructure, distribution planning including hygiene, storage, and more importantly a sufficient allocation in the state annual budget. Unfortunately, that is not the case with Indonesia’s MBG. From The budget POV alone, initially projected at Rp71T , suddenly ballooned by about 371% once the program began. To cover this, funds from other ministries had to be cut, and BPJS premiums were raised, even for the economically disadvantaged are just a few to name. And what about those who already struggle just to find food, or who go to bed unsure of their next meal? What about those who cannot afford healthcare, or those left homeless after floods destroy their houses disasters that strike year after year, not just once? This is a very recent case The death toll from Bali's flash floods has risen to 15. Is reducing stunting (not even gradually executed but a major shake up) are more important than human life, human shelter ? Could the school children still enjoy their MBG comfortably while watching their own homes, friends, relative family homes have been destroyed by flooding. Watching other people lose their lifes ??


When someone claims that food poisoning cases like this are NORMAL, I believe we need to redefine what normal really means. This is among the worst (if not the worst) food poisoning incidents ever recorded. What’s more, MBG only began earlier this year, and this is already not the first case of food poisoning among school children.

Worst food poisoning case, 400 children rushed to hospital in Indonesia after eating free school meal - Times Kuwait

Nearly 400 children in Bengkulu province, western Indonesia, have fallen ill after consuming free school meals, marking the worst mass food poisoning incident linked to President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship nutrition program. The free meal initiative, launched in January for children and...

timeskuwait.com

 

[Shadrach]

A basic rule of common sense: if food poisoning is caused by raw ingredients such as meat, eggs, or fish rather than by poor practices in preparation, hygiene, proper storage, distribution or the like then everyone who bought those same raw materials from the same market, vendors, distributors would also fall ill. That is not what happened in the case reported above.


No one denies that MBG and efforts to reduce stunting among children are good initiatives IF they are well-prepared, with proper infrastructure, distribution planning including hygiene, storage, and more importantly a sufficient allocation in the state annual budget. Unfortunately, that is not the case with Indonesia’s MBG. From The budget POV alone, initially projected at Rp71T , suddenly ballooned by about 371% once the program began. To cover this, funds from other ministries had to be cut, and BPJS premiums were raised, even for the economically disadvantaged are just a few to name. And what about those who already struggle just to find food, or who go to bed unsure of their next meal? What about those who cannot afford healthcare, or those left homeless after floods destroy their houses disasters that strike year after year, not just once? This is a very recent case The death toll from Bali's flash floods has risen to 15. Is reducing stunting (not even gradually executed but a major shake up) are more important than human life, human shelter ?


When someone claims that food poisoning cases like this are NORMAL, I believe we need to redefine what normal really means. This is among the worst (if not the worst) food poisoning incidents ever recorded. What’s more, MBG only began earlier this year, and this is already not the first case of food poisoning among school children.

Worst food poisoning case, 400 children rushed to hospital in Indonesia after eating free school meal - Times Kuwait

Nearly 400 children in Bengkulu province, western Indonesia, have fallen ill after consuming free school meals, marking the worst mass food poisoning incident linked to President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship nutrition program. The free meal initiative, launched in January for children and...

timeskuwait.com

What a sad story! Obviously the program is very well organized. With modern refrigeration trucks and facilities to process the food, someone majorly screwed up. Wherever the contamination came from, it should never have happened. It's a shame they had to take funds from other programs to support this program.

The Government should look into this, and find out who is the culprit, seriously fine them, and correct the problem immediately! With modern refrigeration at the preparation facilities, and trucks, that should take care of the storage situation. Either it was contaminated food used, or the Staff not following Good Hygiene, or after the food was prepared they left it out too long.whoever is responsible should be held accountable, and seriously Fined, and Fired, , and new more properly trained Staff take over! These are the Children that are being hurt.

 

[Helpful Herbert]

Money wasted on the meals program is taken from other budgets, this results in less progress in education and employment for the people, which results in riots because people do not see a future (see also kabur aja).

 

[pantaiema]

More disaster, food poisoning reported in West Bandung
https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasion...g-di-cipongkor-cihampelas-mencapai-1315-orang MBG Poisoning Victims in Cipongkor-Cihampelas Reached 1,315 People.


MBG (Makan Beracun Gratis) - Free Poisonous Food

Those who directly manage this program the head of BGN (National nutrition agency), is shameless, an Apology ? So easy ??. They should be fired and taken to the court given jailed sentence when proven guilty.

This country never learn. With so many people get involved in the network, it is extremely unlikely they could fix this problem even until the next decade. Also looking into the history and culture, it is very naive to think that there is no corruption when appointing the contractor.

 

[Shadrach]

More disaster, food poisoning reported in West Bandung
https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasion...g-di-cipongkor-cihampelas-mencapai-1315-orang MBG Poisoning Victims in Cipongkor-Cihampelas Reached 1,315 People.


MBG (Makan Beracun Gratis) - Free Poisonous Food

Those who directly manage this program the head of BGN (National nutrition agency), is shameless, an Apology ? So easy ??. They should be fired and take to the court given jailed sentence when proven guilty.

This country never learn. With so many people get involved in the network, it is extremely unlikely they could fix this problem even until the next decade. Also looking into the history and culture, it is very naive to think that there is no corruption when appointing the contractor.

With the Billions of Rupiah already provided, it could be corrected much more quickly, if the Government got rid of Corruption, and those in charge now! Create a new Department of Public Safety and Food Hygiene, to inspect All Businesses with Public Toilets, With Even stricter rules for Food Establishments!
Bring in Foreign Professional food handlers to teach a new Department of Public Hygiene, and Food Safety! This doesn't surprise me at all, when you look at everyday food handling. Every food establishment is filthy! There are not any Hygiene inspectors. The People are not educated about Cleanliness, just look at any Public toilet. They are almost All Filthy, the toilet seats are usually low quality materials. The screws that hold the seat in place aren't properly maintained and they come loose and fall off. It seems the attitude here is, The People think, It's not my responsibility, so Why should I fix it? Usually there is Never hand washing soap provided,
If the Government created a Department of Sanitation, and had periodic inspections, for (All) Public Toilets!!!, Especially at All Food services, and enforced Hygiene rules, that if were not up to par, the establishment would receive huge fines, and if not complied to, then they get continuous large fines!
At All Eateries, They must have further stricter inspections, and if the Establishment has not passed the inspections, they are Shut down, until they comply with the Hygiene Rules!
This will only work, if there is No possibility of Corruption and bribes Cannot be payed to circumvent the Rules!

 

[Pak Tani]

Of course every case of food poisoning is one too many. However, for a little bit of context, the program currently serves almost 30 million people who receive 1 meal a day and the total amount of free meals that has been served so far is in the hundreds of millions.
Yes, the cases of poisoning are many, but imho not bad for Indonesian standards. Hopefully they will improve.

 

[Hawk256]

Usually there is Never hand washing soap provided,

65% of the time it works all the time.