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

[snpark]

The problem here is they can not back down if one of the main (election) promises made does not work out. A bit similar with Jokowi’s pet project of moving the capital city.

Yes. But that was more about the purchase of the land and from whom ;-)

It was a payoff to keep some people and groups quiet during his tenure and the side benefit or not was the new city. So not. Lol

 

[pantaiema]

Another secretive project: the Badan Gizi Nasional (BGN), the Indonesian government agency established in August 2024 to oversee the nationwide Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program, is reportedly allocating IDR 1.2 trillion for an application & Managed service, IT project. The plan did not emerge through an official public announcement, but instead surfaced on social media before being picked up by mainstream media outlets.

What makes the situation more controversial is that the project is reportedly being handled through a direct appointment process rather than an open tender. This has raised concerns about transparency and accountability. Some observers are even drawing comparisons to the Indonesian electronic ID card (e-KTP) corruption scandal, although the amount of money involved is smaller scale given the more limited scope and number of people involved.

https://www.tempo.co/politik/penjelasakan-bgn-soal-anggaran-it-tembus-rp-1-2-triliun-2131111 BGN's Explanation Regarding the IDR 1.2T Budget

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0M6XT2iYYxU

Bos BGN Buka Suara soal Viral Isu Proyek IT 'Gaib' Senilai Rp1,2 T

Bos BGN Dadan Hindayana membantah tudingan proyek senilai Rp1,2 triliun IT adalah proyek ghaib sebagaimana isu yang viral di media sosial.

www.cnnindonesia.com

 

[pantaiema]

Journalist Investigation: An MBG motorbike producer/dealership intending to supply thousands of EV motorbikes priced at Rp 40–50m doesn’t even appear to have a proper office, facility. The gate during the working hours remains locked, allegedly to avoid public scrutiny and investigation. Keep in mind the EV motorbikes procurement is budgeted for Rp3,2T to supply 65.067 unit for around Rp 40–50m each. From Public investigation revealed that similar Chinese EV could be found at the price around Rp10- 20m at market place. A few people who investigated the case found similar models to Chinese EVs for around Rp 11m.

The man wearing glasses in the video is a journalist from Kompas, one of Indonesia’s leading national newspapers. The other man is a member of parliament.

dealernya masih kusut tapi motornya udah ada.. wkwkwk #viral #mbg #news #lucu

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

 

[pantaiema]

They are entitled to it, but most kids (and parents) dont want it due to the low quality.
They pay something every month to the pura for food.

Some headmasters occasionally inspect the meals served to their pupils. During one inspection, she found rotten 'grapes', 'tempeh' that should belong to the bin. However, in Indonesia, such items still seem to hold value because of this MBG program.

Why should they be concerned if it’s not even their own children? In the past, when schoolchildren suffered food poisoning and had to be rushed to the hospital, no one was held accountable or sent to prison.

What may still help in this situation is that Indonesian children, especially those from disadvantage family, often develop strong immune systems that allow them to consume such meals up to a certain degree without becoming ill

 

[Dave70]

If oil price keeps going up, ultimately government has to decide MBG or fuel subsidy.

 

[snpark]

If oil price keeps going up, ultimately government has to decide MBG or fuel subsidy.

The public will decide for them
Fuel
Or Shell will just starting charging for it's car parking spaces and become a Grab nap spot

 

[Wisnu]

At the school near where I live, there was excessive unconsumed food. the school staff collected it to feed the pigs. There are no sick pigs though
MBG - makanan babi gratis

 

[pantaiema]

If oil price keeps going up, ultimately government has to decide MBG or fuel subsidy.

They are talking about efficiency, but the current 100+ cabinet minister is the largest in Indonesian history. It might be one of the largest(if not the largest) in the world.

If efficiency is to be achieved the first step imo is to trim the number of cabinet ministers.

 

[ChrisOnBali]

The meals aren't free, it's just that tax payers as a whole share the cost rather than the parents feeding their own kids.

Not to say it's not necessarily a good idea, but the meals aren't free.

As others have said, having such a system opens lots of doors for the budget to be variously misused/stolen and can easily result in an awful lot of wasted food.

So, while in theory it sounds great, in practice it may be smarter to ease the finances of those who can't afford to feed their kids properly, but then what about the parents who would just spend the extra cash-in-hand on fags and whatever and the kids go hungry anyway.

And what about the parents who don't have so many kids because they can't afford them, why should they pay for school meals for the kids of parents who weren't so responsible.

So... on balance, while I'm generally in favour of kids having food to eat; the likely scale of corruption and waste that would inevitably be involved, and my impulse to avoid the state getting any more involved in family life than it needs to be puts me against the idea overall.

 

[pantaiema]

After being replaced a few days ago, the former head of the Free Meals for Children (BGN) program became a suspect in a corruption investigation.

 

[Banana72]

Poor guy IF he is found guilty, probably has to live in a VIP style jail, with only 1PK Air conditioned room, a small Karaoke room and a living room and after 2-3 weeks, move into an apartment near the jail before finally move into 'house arrest' status, and have his assistant wears the ankle bracelet instead.

 

[harryopal1]

Poor fellow. If he goes to gaol does he get to keep the motor cycles? If he just used one new one every day he has enough to motor cycle about for just under 62 years.

 

[harryopal1]

Poor fellow. If he goes to gaol does he get to keep the motor cycles? If he just used one new one every day he has enough to motor cycle about for just under 62 years.

 

[pantaiema]

Poor guy IF he is found guilty, probably has to live in a VIP style jail, with only 1PK Air conditioned room, a small Karaoke room and a living room and after 2-3 weeks, move into an apartment near the jail before finally move into 'house arrest' status, and have his assistant wears the ankle bracelet instead.

This is just one of many examples showing why, in my opinion, many international NGOs that oppose the death penalty for severe corruption in Indonesia do not fully understand the situation on the ground. They often look at examples from their own countries, but those experiences may not be relevant to a country where corruption has become deeply rooted and widespread.

A few more points:
A convicted corrupt official will likely appeal all the way to the Supreme Court. The process can drag on for years. During that time, the question is whether judges are willing to take the risk of accepting bribes in such a high-profile case and under the public attention. Even if they are cautious, there is still a chance that the sentence could be reduced significantly.

And even if the person ends up in prison, there is no guarantee they will serve the full sentence in prison. They might just serve the jail term as described by @Banana72 . After serving part of their term, they may become eligible for parole. Once the case is no longer attracting public attention, they could be released much earlier than expected.

That's why I don't think an asset confiscation law alone would be effective in Indonesia. People with enormous amounts of money and influence can still find ways to affect legal outcomes. Indonesia already applies the death penalty to major drug trafficking cases, so extending it to severe corruption would not be a huge leap. The bigger issue is that Parliament has repeatedly rejected such proposals, for reasons that are fairly obvious. Even for assets confiscation law for corruption the parliament still keep delaying it. Also apparently for obvious reason.

Many people point to China as an example, arguing that the death penalty for severe corruption has helped deter major corruption cases there.

 

[jstar]

Great PR for this country (again) now it’s in the press all over the world…

Hoofd van Indonesisch miljardenprogramma met gratis schoolmaaltijden opgepakt na massale voedselvergiftiging en corruptie

18 maanden geleden lanceerde Indonesië een van ’s werelds meest ambitieuze programma’s: gratis maaltijden voor 80 miljoen scholieren. Maar die actie leidde tot massale voedselvergiftiging, corruptie en een crimineel onderzoek. Woensdag werd Dadan Hindayana (58), hoofd van het National Nutrition...

www.hln.be

18 months ago, Indonesia launched one of the world's most ambitious programs: free meals for 80 million schoolchildren. But that action led to massive food poisoning, corruption and a criminal investigation. On Wednesday, Dadan Hindayana (58), head of the National Nutrition Agency that oversees the program, was arrested, local media reported. He would have caused heavy losses to the state while enriching himself abundantly.

 

[Balifrog]

"massive food poisoning"
The're maybe pushing it a bit far......

 

[snpark]

"massive food pousining"
The're maybe pushing it a bit far......

I don't know, Jakarta TV news and media had days of coverage of hundreds of kids in RS puking etc etc and they claimed a few dead from food poisoning, yes it's 0.001% but still great TV to see wards full of cute Asian kids on IV looking green juxtaposed with a politician in an Alphard

 

[ChrisOnBali]

Poor guy IF he is found guilty, probably has to live in a VIP style jail, with only 1PK Air conditioned room, a small Karaoke room and a living room and after 2-3 weeks, move into an apartment near the jail before finally move into 'house arrest' status, and have his assistant wears the ankle bracelet instead.

Surely not, only a small karaoke room ? - the monsters, I thought mankind had progressed from this sort of barbarism !!!

 

[pantaiema]

This is the main points of the corruption investigation and arrests around the people in BGNs (The Chief and deputy managing the MBG program).

1. Manipulated Partner Verification of the SPPGs the Nutrition Fulfilment Service Units (aka the kitchen) & Conflicts of Interest. The suspects allegedly used a rigged verification process on the agency's partner portal to approve unauthorised foundations to run the kitchens. They are using Institution, Foundations, trusts and the institution which were directly affiliated with and owned by the suspects themselves. Through this setup, the foundations illegally received billions of Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) in daily incentives, amounting to trillions annually.

2. Massive Procurement Inflation (Markups) e.g EV Bikes, IT, Tablets, Wide screen TVS, Socks and other uniforms.

3. Severe operational failures under their watch, most notably multiple cases of food poisoning among schoolchildren who consumed the sub-standard meals. unsafe meals.

 

[Balifrog]

This is the main points of the corruption investigation and arrests around the people in BGNs (The Chief and deputy managing the MBG program).

1. Manipulated Partner Verification of the SPPGs the Nutrition Fulfilment Service Units (aka the kitchen) & Conflicts of Interest. The suspects allegedly used a rigged verification process on the agency's partner portal to approve unauthorised foundations to run the kitchens. They are using Institution, Foundations, trusts and the institution which were directly affiliated with and owned by the suspects themselves. Through this setup, the foundations illegally received billions of Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) in daily incentives, amounting to trillions annually.

2. Massive Procurement Inflation (Markups) e.g EV Bikes, IT, Tablets, Wide screen TVS, Socks and other uniforms.

3. Severe operational failures under their watch, most notably multiple cases of food poisoning among schoolchildren who consumed the sub-standard meals. unsafe meals.

In this kind of countries they can't resist the temptation.
Mind you, developped Asian countries like Taiwan or South Korea have a fair share of corruption as well.
Not too speak about Trump, who will have managed to enrich himselve, his family and friends during his two mandates....
He had to surrender on his 1,8 billion slush fund, but traded it for an eternal tax immunity for his and his family's businesses.