Owner of School Meal Kitchen Claiming to Be Minister's Grandchild Accused of Slashing Budget to Rp 6,500 per Portion
Two school meal programme (SPPG) heads in East Java requested protection from the National Nutrition Agency (BGN). The two SPPG heads said they had been intimidated by the operator of the school meal kitchen who claimed to be a government minister’s grandchild.
“The two SPPG heads from Ponorogo travelled all the way to Blitar to seek my protection,” said Deputy Head of the BGN Nanik S Deyang to journalists on Monday (16 March 2026).
The two SPPG heads were Ponorogo Kauman Somoroto SPPG Head Rizal Zulfikar Fikri and Ponorogo Jambon Krebet SPPG Head Moch. Syafi’i Misbachul Mufid. They lodged complaints about their experiences managing two SPPG kitchens under the Bhakti Bhojana Nusantara Foundation.
To Nanik, both men reported that for several months, they and their nutrition and finance supervisors had been pressured and intimidated by a foundation operator claiming to be a minister’s grandchild. According to Nanik, the two SPPG heads had been threatened with police action or legal proceedings if they did not comply with the foundation’s demands.
The foundation managing both SPPG kitchens allegedly manipulated food purchases. The BGN had set a budget of Rp 10,000 per portion for food procurement, but the operators reportedly spent only Rp 6,500 per portion.
Both SPPG heads said they often had to cover the shortfall from their own pockets to ensure meals appeared adequate.
“I had no choice, sir. I felt sorry for the students receiving assistance,” said Mufid.
In response to the complaint, the BGN temporarily suspended the two SPPG kitchens in the Ponorogo area. This followed confirmation from the head of the coordinating committee of 17 ministries and agencies overseeing the school meal programme that the minister in question does not have a grandchild operating these kitchens. The minister agreed that the kitchens operated by the person claiming to be his grandchild should be shut down.
Findings from BGN Inspection
After obtaining confirmation, the BGN conducted a surprise inspection. Nanik tasked the Director of Monitoring and Supervision for Region II, Brigadier General TNI Albertus Dony Dewantoro, together with Senior Expert Advisor Hanibal Wijayanta and their team to inspect both kitchens. She also requested that the kitchens be permanently closed.
The inspection team found filthy, foul-smelling and unsanitary conditions that violated technical guidelines and standard operating procedures (SOP) for SPPG kitchens. The problems included peeling kitchen floors, dirty, corroded and mouldy walls, unsuitable and non-air-conditioned portioning areas, no rest facilities, and inadequate, unseparated lockers.
To upgrade the SPPG facilities, the two SPPG heads were forced to spend their own money. The foundation managing both kitchens and its owner refused to invest further in improvements, despite the severely deteriorated conditions. “We used personal funds to construct the wastewater treatment facility (IPAL), sir,” said Rizal.
The foul odour emanating from both kitchens confirmed to Brigadier General Dony that their wastewater treatment was grossly inadequate. The facility merely consisted of connected concrete pipes that were nearly overflowing and covered only with thin plywood. The foundation owner said he was willing to follow all of Brigadier General Dony’s directives.
“These kitchens are completely unsuitable to continue operating,” he stated.