MBG Partners to Rally at Patung Kuda with Four Demands
Partners and volunteers of the Free Nutritious Meal Programme (MBG) will hold a rally at the Patung Kuda area in Central Jakarta on Wednesday (8/7). The crowd, assembled under the Presidium of Volunteers, Partners, and Sympathisers Supporting the Continuation of MBG, claims the action will be attended by up to one million participants.
Presidium Coordinator Ahmad Yazdi stated that the rally is being held to show support for the continuation of the MBG Programme amidst various recent polemics. Participants reportedly include kitchen workers from the Nutrition Fulfilment Service Units (SPPG), partners, suppliers, volunteers, farmers, and parents of beneficiaries.
“The masses are not only from Jakarta, West Java, and Banten, but also from Lampung, South Sumatra, Aceh, Kalimantan, and Sulawesi,” Yazdi said during a press conference in Jakarta on Monday (6/7). He noted that the rally is the culmination of various support movements for the MBG that have been taking place in several regions.
According to him, the action proves that the programme still receives broad public support. During the rally, they will present four demands. First, to support the continuation of MBG as a strategic programme towards the Golden Generation 2045 as well as a driver of the people’s economy. Second, to urge the leadership of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) to facilitate a discussion forum with partners, suppliers, volunteers, and stakeholders to improve programme governance. Third, to ask the government to accelerate the operation of SPPG kitchens in underdeveloped, frontier, and outermost (3T) regions. Fourth, to urge the House of Representatives (DPR) to immediately draft a law on MBG so that the programme has legal certainty for all parties involved.
Yazdi also dismissed the notion that the rally participants are paid. According to him, volunteers coming from various regions deserve to have their transportation costs facilitated. “If people want to come and voice their aspirations but do not have the fare, they should be given it,” he said. He even called on MBG partners with financial capacity to help cover the volunteers’ transport costs. “We call on partners who have joined the MBG programme to equip their volunteers with money and transport, not just a little. If you have the means, give Rp500,000 per volunteer,” he said. Yazdi stressed that transport assistance cannot be interpreted as a paid mob practice, as many participants are kitchen workers with limited economic means who still wish to voice their support for the continuation of the MBG Programme. He asserted that the action is a moral movement from actors directly involved in the MBG ecosystem.