Coordinating Minister Zulhas: SPPG Points Swell by 6,877, Programme Needs Overhaul

Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan has revealed that the number of Nutritional Fulfilment Service Units (SPPG) for the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme has swelled by 6,877 points from the initial plan of roughly 21,000 points, necessitating a government restructuring of the MBG programme within one month. “The initial plan for SPPG points was 21,000, but now there are 27,877 points. There is an increase of 6,877 SPPG points,” said Zulhas, as he is commonly known, during the “Improving the Quality of MBG and Remote SPPG Services” event held at the Coordinating Ministry for Food office in Jakarta on Thursday. The 21,000 SPPG points were originally planned to be built in agglomeration areas. Consequently, according to Zulhas, the surge in the number of SPPG points suggests the practice of buying and selling SPPG points is occurring. With each SPPG kitchen receiving an incentive worth Rp6 million per day, Zulhas calculates that the budget wastage for SPPG kitchen incentives is estimated at more than Rp1 trillion per month. Therefore, the Coordinating Minister for Food stressed that the Government will restructure the MBG programme within one month. “A comprehensive restructuring is needed by the Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) and the new management to fix this very important programme,” said Zulhas. Head of the BGN Nanik S Deyang stated that her agency is implementing several budget efficiency measures so that the programme’s implementation does not burden the state’s finances without altering the nutritional fulfilment targets for beneficiaries.