Hundreds Protest, Demand Continuation of Free Nutritious Meals Programme in 3T Regions

Hundreds of people staged a protest on Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday (8/7/2026), demanding the continuation of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme. Chairman of the Indonesian Food and Nutrition Association for 3T Regions (APGI 3T), Herwil Junaidi Harefa, stated that one of the key demands was for the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) to immediately operationalise the nutritional fulfilment service units (SPPG) in underdeveloped, frontier, and outermost (3T) areas. He noted that thousands of MBG kitchens in these regions remain non-operational. “Until now, our SPPG kitchens have been left idle. We are even maintaining them, paying for the internet and electricity,” he said during the protest on Wednesday afternoon. He mentioned that 6,000 MBG kitchens have already been built in 3T areas. Of these, 645 kitchens have signed cooperation agreements with the BGN, and all facilities and infrastructure for these hundreds of kitchens are already in place. However, the kitchens have yet to begin operations. “We should not have to bear the consequences of the actions of previous officials whose motives we do not understand. These underdeveloped regions should be prioritised, especially since we have already incurred significant debt for this,” he said. Herwil revealed that the kitchens were not built using the state budget, but rather with investor funds, and not all investors used personal capital to construct the facilities.