BGN Suspends Two Meal Kitchens at MBG Programme in Ponorogo Following Owner's Claim to Be Minister's Grandchild
The National Nutrition Agency (BGN) has suspended two Nutrition Service Units (SPPG) in the Ponorogo region, East Java, following complaints from the respective heads of the SPPG and surprise inspections by the BGN.
Nanik Sudaryati Deyang, Deputy Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) for Public Communication and Investigation, stated that the two SPPG heads had come to meet her while she was in Blitar.
“These two SPPG heads from Ponorogo came all the way to Blitar to see me because they were asking for protection,” Nanik told reporters on Monday (16 March 2026).
The two SPPG heads were Ponorogo Kauman Somoroto SPPG Head Rizal Zulfikar Fikri and Ponorogo Jambon Krebet SPPG Head Moch. Syafi’i Misbachul Mufid. They reported their experiences whilst managing the two SPPG facilities under the Bhakti Bhojana Nusantara Foundation.
They stated that for months, they and the nutrition supervisors and financial supervisors had been subjected to pressure and intimidation by a foundation that claimed to be owned by a minister’s grandchild.
The foundation managing the two SPPG facilities was also alleged to have manipulated food procurement. From the BGN-established budget of Rp 10,000 per portion for food purchases, they reportedly spent only Rp 6,500 per portion.
Both SPPG heads acknowledged that they often had to cover the shortfall from their own pockets to ensure the meals appeared adequate.
“I couldn’t help it, sir, I felt sorry for the students receiving these meals,” said Mufid.
Nanik stated that the foundation owner’s conduct was inhumane and unacceptable. The two SPPG heads reported being continuously pressured and threatened with police visits or legal action if they did not comply with the foundation’s demands.
Staff members and beneficiary schools were also said to have been asked to sign documents to remove the two SPPG heads. Nanik subsequently tasked Brigadier General Albertus Dony Dewantoro, Director of Monitoring and Supervision for Region II, together with Senior Expert Hanibal Wijayanta from the BGN Media Division and their team, to inspect the two kitchens.
“Stop them. If necessary, suspend them permanently, if they do not demonstrate improved conduct towards the SPPG heads, nutrition supervisors, and financial supervisors,” she said.
The daily chair of the Coordination Team of 17 ministries and agencies implementing the MBG programme immediately telephoned the minister in question. The minister firmly stated that he did not have a grandchild claiming to own the two kitchens.
The minister agreed that the kitchens allegedly owned by his supposed grandchild should be closed.
“Just close the kitchens,” he said, also directing that none of his family members be given SPPG facility placements.
At the site, the inspection team found the kitchens to be dirty, foul-smelling, filthy, and failing to meet technical guidelines or standard operating procedures (SOP) for SPPG. These included peeling kitchen floors, dirty walls covered in mould, unsuitable portioning areas without air conditioning, no rest areas, and inadequate, non-segregated lockers.
To remedy the various facilities and infrastructure of the SPPG, both SPPG heads were forced to dip into their own pockets. The foundation managing the two SPPG facilities and its owner were unwilling to spend further money even to repair the kitchens. Yet the facilities and infrastructure were in very poor condition.
“We used our own money to construct this wastewater treatment system, sir,” said Rizal.
From the foul odours emanating from the two kitchens, Brigadier General Dony emphasised that their wastewater treatment systems were severely inadequate. Moreover, they only used connected concrete pipes that were nearly overflowing and covered with thin plywood.
“These kitchens are entirely unfit to continue operating,” he said.
During the telephone conversation, the foundation owner claimed readiness to follow any instructions from Brigadier General Dony.