53 Free Nutritious Meal Kitchens in Batam Halt Operations Pending Budget Disbursement

Batam (ANTARA) - The Regional Coordinator of SPPG Batam, Kepulauan Riau, Defri Frenaldi, stated that 53 Nutritional Fulfilment Service Units (SPPG) in the city have temporarily suspended their kitchen operations and the Free Nutritious Meal Programme (MBG). Defri Frenaldi said the temporary suspension occurred because the SPPG units are waiting for budget disbursements to enter their respective virtual accounts. He noted that at the beginning of the week, the number of SPPG units halting operations had reached more than 55. “On Monday (8/6), the number that stopped was more than 55 SPPG. Now, the number recorded as non-operational is 53. This means several SPPG units have already resumed operations,” he said. He explained that funds for some SPPG units have started to come in, allowing them to become operational again today. Defri explained that the duration of the operational halt varied for each SPPG. Some stopped for only one day, while others stopped for two. Meanwhile, several SPPG units are still waiting for fund disbursement and have not yet been able to resume services. Based on the latest data, out of 147 SPPG units spread across Batam, 86 units are operational, 53 units are non-operational, and another eight units are not yet operational as they are new SPPG facilities. According to sub-district data, in Sagulung District, 10 kitchens are non-operational, followed by Batam Kota and Sei Beduk, each recording nine non-operational SPPG units. In Batu Aji and Sekupang Districts, there are six non-operational SPPG units each. Meanwhile, Bengkong and Nongsa Districts each recorded four non-operational SPPG units, whilst Lubuk Baja has three. For the island areas, Bulang and Belakang Padang Districts each have one non-operational SPPG. In Batu Ampar and Galang Districts, all operational SPPG units are continuing to run normally without any service disruption. Despite dozens of SPPG units still not operating, the authorities are optimistic that services will gradually return to normal as operational funds are credited to each kitchen’s account.