President Aware of Abnormalities in Priority Programme Governance

President Prabowo Subianto has been made aware of abnormalities in the governance of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme and the governance of the Red and White Village Cooperative (KDMP) Programme. This fact should serve as a reminder to all parties entrusted with realising the president’s two priority programmes. The essence of the message is to stop destructive behaviour by exploiting these two priority programmes. Two figures highly trusted by President Prabowo have signalled that the president is fully aware of the governance abnormalities in the MBG and KDMP programmes. These figures are the President’s Special Envoy for Climate and Energy, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, and Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa. As is widely known, any data and notes these two individuals have on government dynamics and sector or programme governance will ultimately reach and be known by the president. At the inauguration of the Srikandi Jaga Desa board in Jakarta on Friday (3/7), Hashim revealed that he had heard indications of governance irregularities in President Prabowo Subianto’s priority programmes. ‘I have heard and received many reports; there are already indications of irregularities. I entrust you all, supervision must be very strict,’ Hashim said. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa stated in a recent podcast that President Prabowo is already aware of irregularities and corruption in the governance of the MBG and KDMP programmes. According to the Finance Minister, the president is continuously monitoring these irregularities until the data is accurate before ultimately taking firm action. The statements from Hashim and Finance Minister Purbaya thus confirm and validate public statements and perceptions about the governance abnormalities in the two priority programmes. The criticism and condemnation from various community elements were not wrong; they are even in line with the president’s own monitoring results. For many in the community, the abnormalities in the MBG programme are very real. There is no room to cover up the various irregularities, which in fact manifested in cases of food poisoning affecting tens of thousands of student beneficiaries. The MBG programme abnormalities, which led to a corruption scandal within the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) and the manipulation of the number of Nutrition Fulfilment Service Unit (SPPG) kitchens, are now being legally processed. Currently, MBG governance is entering a rectification period, beginning with a temporary suspension during the school holidays. The abnormalities previously reflected in reckless programme spending must not be repeated; more than 20,000 imported motorcycles procured by BGN are now nearly abandoned, despite their value exceeding IDR 1 trillion. After the corruption scandal at BGN was exposed and suspects are undergoing legal proceedings, attention should now turn to the abnormalities occurring in the realisation and governance of the KDMP programme. The implementation of the KDMP programme sparked controversy due to the import purchase of more than 100,000 commercial vehicles or light trucks from India. This import purchasing initiative was naturally deemed peculiar, thus becoming controversial. Typically, for both business and personal or family mobility purposes, the general public considers two main factors when buying a vehicle: the vehicle must be tough and fuel-efficient, and after-sales service costs must be easy and affordable. Based on these considerations, the primary choice for purchasing commercial vehicles would be products from the domestic automotive industry, which have extensive after-sales service networks spread across many locations and regions. Many communities are questioning the considerations of the KDMP programme implementers when deciding to import vehicles from India. Besides questioning the unit price of these imported vehicles, questions also arise about after-sales service. With 100,000 units planned for distribution to tens of thousands of KDMP outlets across Indonesia, would the Indian commercial vehicle exporter be willing to build after-sales service networks in all regions? From an effectiveness and efficiency standpoint, the likelihood of the exporter building after-sales service networks is very small. The next issue concerns standard vehicle maintenance. All commercial vehicles typically require routine servicing after reaching a certain mileage. If this discipline is not followed, all these commercial vehicles will eventually become piles of scrap metal. Public concern over KDMP abnormalities continues with the odd selection of outlet locations in various regions. In the context of physical business premises, the selection and designation of several KDMP outlet locations are considered unusual because they are far from residential areas. There is even a case involving the seizure of a school area just to build a KDMP outlet. There are KDMP outlets located in the middle of fishponds, near forests, and on mountain slopes. Other outlets are near cemeteries, facing ravines, in the middle of roads, and at the edge of rice fields. Such locations and positions are certainly not convenient for potential buyers to reach or visit. Almost daily, these peculiar outlet locations and physical structures are being shared virally by local residents on social media. Another controversy is the intention to close existing mini-market networks to simply provide growth opportunities for the KDMP outlet network. This is a destructive idea, analogous to the notion that local and foreign private banks should not be allowed to operate because the government already has banks with branch office networks spread across all districts. In reality, the presence of local and foreign private banks has never closed off growth opportunities for state-owned banks; instead, both can grow side by side and complement each other. Built with substantial investment, the existing mini-market networks, which have been operating for decades, not only absorb labour but also support the growth of local small and medium enterprises.