Dudung Abdurachman Denies Rumour of Owning Free Nutritious Meal Kitchen
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Chief of Staff to the Presidency, Dudung Abdrollachman, has denied rumours suggesting that he owns Service Units for Nutritional Fulfilment (SPPG) within the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) Programme.
He even challenged those spreading the rumours to prove their claims, offering a reward if anyone could find evidence of him owning an MBG kitchen.
“I inform and emphasise that I do not possess any kitchens for the programme whatsoever. If anyone finds that Mr Dudung owns a kitchen, please check directly; I will provide a reward later,” said Dudung during a press conference at the KSP Office, Indonesian Presidential Palace, Jakarta, on Wednesday.
Dudung subsequently explained that he had merely received aspirations from several pesantren (Islamic boarding school) administrators, namely Abah Junaidi and Ustaz Iskandar, approximately 6-7 months ago. They expressed hope that students (santri) could also benefit from the free nutritious meal programme.
He recounted that the reason for this request was that the population of students within those pesantren environments reaches approximately 4,000 to 5,000 people. Consequently, the pesantren administrators believed that MBG kitchens were worthy of being built within the school grounds.
After receiving these aspirations, Dudung introduced the pesantren administrators to the Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), a position held at the time by Dadan Hindayana.
Dudung emphasised that following the initial communication meeting between the pesantren administrators and Dadan, he was no longer involved in the subsequent process.
Nevertheless, Dudung mentioned that a few weeks ago, he had enquired with Dadan regarding the progress of the matter. However, the response at the time was that the administrative processing had not yet been completed, and to this day, no physical construction of MBG kitchens has taken place within the pesantren environments.
“It is only because I requested Mr Dadan to facilitate the pesantren that the issue arose, making it appear as though Mr Dudung owns the kitchens. Once again, I emphasise that, in reality, the kitchens have not even been built, and I am not involved in it at all,” said Dudung.
It is noted that President Prabowo Subianto has removed Dadan Hindayana from his position as Head of the BGN after the latter was named a suspect in an alleged corruption case related to procurement for the MBG programme.
The President subsequently appointed Nanik S. Deyang, who previously served as Deputy Head of the BGN, as the new Head of the BGN. President Prabowo also dismissed two Deputy Heads of the BGN, Lodewyk Pusung and Sony Sanjaya, and appointed Agustina Arumsari and Major General TNI Trenggono as the new Deputy Heads of the BGN.