Natalius Pigai Visits Poisoned Students: MBG is Good, the Cook is at Fault

Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai directly inspected the condition of victims from the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme poisoning in Tembok Dukuh Ward, Bubutan District, Surabaya City, at the Indonesian Midwives Association Maternity Hospital (RSIA IBI) on Wednesday (13/5).

During his visit to IBI Hospital in Surabaya, Pigai personally checked on each of the poisoned children. He spoke with the parents and conveyed the government’s concern in this case.

“President [Prabowo Subianto] provided MBG with good intentions; indeed, the one at fault is the cook,” said Pigai to the children who were victims of the poisoning and their parents.

In front of the victims, Pigai stated that the MBG kitchen or Nutrition Fulfilment Service Unit (SPPG) that supplied the problematic food would face sanctions including closure and cessation of operations.

“The SPPG will certainly be sanctioned; it’s not certain they will cook again,” he said to reassure the parents.

After inspecting the victims one by one, Pigai emphasised that this presidential priority programme has good aims for the future of Indonesian children, but he highlighted the unpreparedness of the Tembok Dukuh SPPG as a food provider.

Pigai mentioned that the poisoning incident affecting 200 students was triggered by unprofessional management of the SPPG kitchen. He found that one kitchen had to serve up to 13 schools in the Surabaya area. According to him, this ratio is unreasonable and exceeds capacity.

“This good intention turns out to have one or two SPPG kitchens with unprofessional management. I found it in Surabaya. The mistake has indeed been confirmed to be the SPPG kitchen’s fault. Why? Because one SPPG handles 13 schools. From kindergarten, elementary, junior high. I think one kitchen managing 13 schools is too many,” he said.

Pigai assessed that this excessive workload made the SPPG management amateurish and neglected discipline and thoroughness in serving food to the students. According to him, for urban areas with high population density like Surabaya, one SPPG ideally should only serve a maximum of three to five schools.

“So in its management, it’s amateur, not professional, not thorough, not meticulous, not agile, and not disciplined. There are some kitchens with chaotic management. We must admit. There are some kitchens with management that is less thorough, less meticulous, less tidy, less disciplined,” he stressed.

As a firm step, Pigai requested that the SPPG manager responsible, in this case SPPG Tembok Dukuh, be immediately replaced with a more professional SPPG to ensure the safety of children consuming MBG.

“Therefore, the kitchen responsible for managing MBG provision to those 13 schools must be replaced and stopped with a more professional one, more disciplined, more agile, more thorough, and more careful,” he said.

Pigai even proposed to the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) to include the name of the owner or manager of the problematic SPPG on a blacklist, as they are considered negligent in maintaining food quality standards.

“If necessary, blacklist them. The blacklist is not for the SPPG, remember. If I were the head of BGN, I would blacklist the managers. Because this is man-made. This is human error. Not the SPPG’s fault, but the managers’ fault. The owners’ fault. So the owners should be blacklisted,” Pigai stressed.

Although the MBG poisoning incident has been massive, Pigai has not classified this event as a human rights violation. According to him, the MBG programme is currently in the building and improvement phase towards ideal standards or ongoing achievement of human rights standards.

“I say ongoing achieving of human rights. So, something that is being built cannot be judged in the context of human rights. But it is evaluated, this is fixed, this is fixed, this is fixed until the maximum standard is achieved. So, now we’re only in the second year. Later until a certain standard where the whole of Indonesia’s target is achieved, then it can be judged,” he said.

Meanwhile, of the 200 kindergarten, elementary, and junior high students reported poisoned by MBG in the Tembok Dukuh area, Bubutan, Surabaya, on Monday (11/5), around 130 children underwent treatment at RSIA IBI Surabaya. Currently, some victims have been allowed to go home, but there are still seven patients under observation.

“Of the seven patients, perhaps two need one or two more days before they go home. But perhaps five can go home soon,” he concluded.

In addition to inspecting the MBG poisoning victims still receiving treatment at RSIA IBI, Pigai is also scheduled to attend a hearing at the Surabaya City DPRD.

Previously, hundreds of students and even teachers from dozens of schools in Tembok Dukuh Ward, Bubutan District, Surabaya, East Java, were suspected of experiencing mass poisoning after consuming the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) menu on Monday (11/5).

Head of Tembok Dukuh Health Centre in Surabaya, drg Tyas Pranadani, said there were around 200 students experiencing poisoning symptoms. All are being handled at the Tembok Dukuh Health Centre and RSIA Indonesian Midwives Association (IBI) Surabaya.

“So far, the data we have is almost 200 students [experiencing poisoning symptoms],” said Tyas, when met at RSIA IBI.

The SPPG Tembok Dukuh, Bubutan, Surabaya, as the party supplying the MBG, expressed apologies to the affected students and teachers. They also promised to cover all treatment costs.

“As the head of SPPG from Tembok Dukuh Bubutan, I offer my deepest apologies to all affected parties, to the students and also the teachers who were poisoned because of our food,” said Head of SPPG Tembok Dukuh, Chafi Alida Najla, when met at her office.

“From us, we will take full responsibility for the treatment and all observations carried out in the field,” she added.