President Aware of Abnormalities in Priority Programme Governance

Abnormalities in the governance of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme and the Red-and-White Village Cooperatives (KDMP) programme have already been known to President Prabowo Subianto. This fact should serve as a reminder to all those entrusted with realising these two presidential priority programmes. The essence of the message is: no longer behave destructively by hijacking the two priority programmes.

Two figures highly trusted by President Prabowo have signalled that the President knows full well about the irregularities in the governance of MBG and the KDMP programme. These two figures are the President’s Special Envoy for Climate and Energy, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, and Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa. As is widely known, whatever data and records these two hold on the dynamics of governance and the management of sectors or programmes will ultimately reach and be known to the President.

At the inauguration and confirmation of the central, provincial and regional boards of Srikandi Jaga Desa in Jakarta on Friday (3 July), Hashim revealed that he had heard indications of irregularities in the governance of President Prabowo Subianto’s priority programmes. “I have heard and received many reports; there are already indications of irregularities. I entrust this to you — supervision must be very strict,” Hashim said.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa stated in a recent podcast that President Prabowo already knows about irregularities and corruption in the governance of the MBG programme and the KDMP programme. According to Minister Purbaya, the President is continuously monitoring those irregularities until the data is accurate before finally taking firm action.

The statements by Hashim and Minister Purbaya thus confirm and validate public statements and perceptions about the abnormal governance of the two priority programmes. The criticisms and condemnation from various elements of society have not been wrong — they are in fact in line with the President’s own monitoring. For the public, the MBG abnormalities are very real. There is no room to cover up the nakedness of various irregularities that have manifested in cases of food poisoning affecting tens of thousands of student beneficiaries.

The MBG programme abnormalities that culminated in a corruption scandal within the BGN, along with manipulation of the number of SPPG (Nutrition Fulfilment Service Unit) kitchens, have been acted upon and are now going through legal proceedings. MBG governance has now entered a period of rectification, beginning with a temporary suspension during the school holidays. The abnormalities previously reflected in the programme’s reckless spending should not be repeated. More than 20,000 motorcycles imported by the BGN are now nearly abandoned, even though the motorcycle purchases were worth more than Rp 1 trillion.

After the corruption scandal at the BGN was uncovered and the suspects entered the legal process, attention deserves to be directed at the abnormalities in the realisation and governance of the KDMP. The KDMP programme’s realisation sparked controversy because of the import of more than 100,000 commercial vehicles or light trucks from India. This import spending initiative was naturally considered strange and became controversial.

Ordinarily, whether for business purposes or personal and family mobility, most people have two main considerations when buying a car: a vehicle that is robust and fuel-efficient, and after-sales service that is easy and affordable. On these considerations, the primary choice for purchasing commercial vehicles would be products of the domestic automotive industry, which has an after-sales service network spread across many locations and regions.

Many people are asking about the considerations of the KDMP programme implementers when deciding to import cars from India. Beyond questions about the per-unit price of the imported vehicles, questions have also arisen about after-sales service. With 100,000 units planned for distribution to tens of thousands of KDMP outlets across Indonesia, would the commercial vehicle exporters from India be willing to build after-sales service networks in every region?

From the standpoint of effectiveness and efficiency, it is highly unlikely that exporters would build after-sales service networks. The next issue concerns routine maintenance. All commercial vehicles normally require routine servicing after travelling a certain distance. If this discipline is not observed, all those vehicles will eventually end up as piles of scrap.

Public attention to the KDMP abnormalities then continued with the peculiar choice of KDMP outlet locations in various regions. In the context of physical buildings for business, the selection and designation of a number of KDMP outlet locations has been deemed unusual because they are far from residential areas. There has even been a case involving the seizure of a school area simply to build a KDMP outlet.

One KDMP outlet is located in the middle of a fish pond; another is near a forest and on a mountainside. Other outlets are close to a cemetery or face a ravine. There are outlets in the middle of a road and at the edge of rice fields. Such locations and positions are naturally inconvenient for prospective customers to reach. Almost every day, the strangeness of these KDMP site designations and physical buildings is being viralised by local residents on social media.

Another controversy is the intention to shut down existing outlet or mini-market chains simply to give room for the KDMP network to grow. This is a destructive idea. It is analogous to arguing there should be no local or foreign private banks because the government already owns a bank with branch offices spread across every regency. In reality, the presence of local and foreign private banks has never closed off room for government-owned banks to grow; indeed, both entities can grow side by side and complement each other.

Built with substantial investment, the mini-market chains that have existed for decades not only absorb labour but have clearly delivered various benefits to the public. Able to adapt to change and the era of connectivity, these existing mini-market chains not only sell products but also provide a number of services the public needs, including payment services. So, shutting down their businesses for the sake of KDMP’s growth would not solve any problem at all — it would only add to them.

President Prabowo is believed not to agree with such destructive ideas.