Jakarta East City Government Prioritises Health of Students Affected by Suspected MBG Food Poisoning
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Jakarta East City Government (Pemkot Jaktim) is prioritising the health of students suspected of poisoning after consuming Free Nutritious Food (MBG) meals at several schools in Duren Sawit.
“If the Sub-District Education Office, we do not have the authority to state whether it is poisoning or not. Clearly, we are focusing on the safety of the children, especially regarding their health,” said the Head of the Sub-District Education Office for Region I of Jakarta East, M. Fahmi, when contacted in Jakarta on Saturday.
Fahmi stated that students and teachers suspected of experiencing poisoning symptoms were immediately directed to the Duren Sawit Special Regional Hospital (RSKD), Jakarta East.
Fahmi emphasised that they could not yet provide a statement on the suspected poisoning because the examination process is still ongoing and falls under the authority of health agencies.
“Currently, we are still awaiting results from the relevant authorities. Meanwhile, we are continuously updating data on students who are being treated or have been discharged, as it is still fluctuating,” Fahmi said.
Fahmi also confirmed that cross-sector coordination has been conducted to handle the situation.
They have held a meeting with various stakeholders, including from the health sector and parties related to the MBG programme.
However, Fahmi reiterated that conclusions regarding the cause of the incident cannot be provided until the official laboratory examination results are released.
“We cannot call it poisoning if the data is not yet available. Only the laboratory knows the results, so we just have to wait,” Fahmi stressed.
Meanwhile, handling activities at health facilities such as the Duren Sawit Special Regional Hospital (RSKD) are still ongoing.
The Sub-District Education Office continues to coordinate to ensure all students receive proper treatment.
Fahmi also urged all parties not to speculate and to wait for the official results from the ongoing examinations.
“Currently, it is still in the examination process. We hope all parties wait for the results so that the information provided is truly accurate,” Fahmi said.
Previously, one parent from SDN Pondok Kelapa 01 with initials Z stated that hundreds of students and teachers were suspected of poisoning after consuming MBG programme meals in the Pondok Kelapa area, Jakarta East (Jaktim).
“We received information from the school group that around 135 students and teachers from several schools were suspected of poisoning after eating MBG from the school,” said Z.
The incident occurred on Thursday (2/4) around 11:00 WIB, coinciding with the time for distributing food to students.
Z mentioned that usually, children tend not to eat the MBG menu immediately, which generally consists of rice.
However, the spaghetti menu on the day of the incident made many students interested in consuming it directly at school.
Furthermore, Z explained that information obtained from the parents’ communication group indicated that similar cases occurred not only in one school.
In addition to SDN Pondok Kelapa 01, several other schools were also affected.
Based on a preliminary report from the Head of the Education Implementation Unit (Kasatpel) for Duren Sawit Sub-District as of 3 April 2026 at 11:18 WIB, the number of suspected MBG poisoning victims reached 135 people.
The details are: at SDN Pondok Kelapa 09, 33 students were affected, seven of whom were treated at Duren Sawit General Hospital.
Then, at SDN Pondok Kelapa 01, 37 students; at SDN Pondok Kelapa 07, 31 students with eight of them treated; and at SMAN 91, 34 people consisting of 28 students and 6 teachers and educational staff.
“From the total, 15 people were reported to require intensive treatment at the hospital, while the rest underwent outpatient treatment,” said Z.
Z requested transparency from the relevant parties, considering the large number of victims involving more than one school.