Human Rights Minister Proposes Establishment of Regional Nutrition Departments to Oversee Free Nutritious Meals Programme

Surabaya (ANTARA) - Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai has urged improvements in the governance of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme to ensure it operates more effectively without compromising student safety. “This programme is good, its aspirations are good. So that this good programme, Mr Prabowo’s vision, can be realised as intended, that one day Indonesia must become a world leader, influencing the world by 2045,” said Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai after a hearing on allegations of students suffering poisoning from consuming MBG at the Surabaya City Regional People’s Representative Council (DPRD) Building, East Java, on Wednesday. The Human Rights Minister highlighted the absence of a strict daily control system at the Nutrition Fulfilment Service Units (SPPG), from kitchen cleanliness checks and food temperature monitoring to service systems and hygiene standards. “In public services, there must be a daily checklist system. Cleanliness is checked, food temperature is checked, hygiene is checked. From what I see, this has not been running maximally,” stated Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai. According to him, weak supervision will pose a serious threat if the MBG coverage continues to expand, as East Java currently has around 119 SPPGs serving thousands of schools. Pigai stressed that local governments (pemda) should be fully involved in MBG governance to have a real role in supervision, budgeting, and programme evaluation. “This programme must be incorporated into the local government system. There must be a sense of ownership from the local government, budgeting, supervision, and shared responsibility,” he said. He even proposed the establishment of regional Nutrition Departments as a long-term step to strengthen the sustainability of the MBG programme nationally. In addition to highlighting inter-agency coordination issues, Pigai also affirmed that the primary responsibility for the alleged poisoning lies with the SPPG managers and the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) as the programme’s overseer. “Clearly, it is not the local government or the school. The primary responsibility is on the SPPG managers and supervision from the BGN,” he said. When asked about the possibility of permanently closing that SPPG, Pigai stated that based on scientific facts and field conditions, the kitchen’s operations are already worthy of temporary suspension while awaiting further evaluation. “If looking at scientific facts and field conditions, it is already worthy of being held temporarily,” said Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai.