BRIN: MBG Programme Evaluation a Momentum for System Overhaul

A researcher from the National Research and Innovation Agency’s (BRIN) Population Research Centre, Yanu Endar Prasetyo, has called on all stakeholders to make the evaluation of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme a momentum for overhauling public policy governance comprehensively. In an interview at the ANTARA Heritage Center in Jakarta on Wednesday, Yanu stated that the president’s priority programme fundamentally has a very noble intention and goal for the wider community. However, the implementation obstacles that have recently occurred in the field must be addressed as a very valuable lesson for the government so that its planning system becomes more mature. “Unfortunately, when today we find mega corruption occurring, this certainly becomes a very expensive lesson. From a public policy perspective, there are planning issues that we can certainly evaluate,” he said. Yanu assessed that the evaluation must not only focus on the mistakes of one or two individuals, but must touch the root of the problem within a system that still has gaps. He encouraged a remapping of potential conflicts of interest among implementing actors, ranging from the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), private sector partners holding the Nutrition Fulfilment Service Units (SPPG), to the oversight role of the House of Representatives (DPR). With a more orderly system mapping, he continued, technical obstacles in the field such as hygiene and sanitation issues at SPPG facilities can be prevented as early as possible. This is crucial considering the programme involves a very massive scale, namely more than 27,000 kitchens spread across Indonesia to serve millions of beneficiaries. “This means we can make this a momentum to reorganise quite radically. Without prudence in planning, supervision, and implementation, this will certainly become a very big problem in the future,” said Yanu Endar Prasetyo.