Zulhas and Sudaryono Deploy 1,700 Free Nutritious Meal Kitchens in 3T Regions, Here's the Objective
The government is accelerating the completion of Nutrition Fulfilment Service Units (SPPG), or Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) kitchens, in underdeveloped, frontier, and outermost (3T) regions. Previously targeted for completion within one month, the government is now optimistic that the work can be finished this week.
Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan, popularly known as Zulhas, said the acceleration is possible because nearly all supporting data for the 3T regions has been verified. The priority areas include Papua, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), and Maluku, which have high stunting rates.
“Our short-term target is SPPG in the 3T regions, namely Papua, NTT, and Maluku, which have the highest stunting rates and so on. Today’s meeting decided that the 3T regions will be completed this week, because last week we met and set a one-month target, but it turns out that within this week, God willing, we can complete the 3T regions,” Zulhas said at a press conference at his office in Jakarta on Thursday (6/8/2026).
According to him, the cross-ministerial data synchronisation process is also nearly complete. Data from the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Population and Family Development, Ministry of Education, and the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) is now connected, making it easier to determine the target beneficiaries.
Outside the 3T regions, the government still needs about one to one and a half months to finalise the addition of around 13,000 SPPG points in Java, Sumatra, and other regions.
Meanwhile, Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) Sudaryono clarified information that had circulated regarding the simultaneous opening of 13,000 new MBG kitchens. According to him, that figure represents the total number of kitchens that have been mapped with various construction statuses.
“So there was some noise, there was a statement as if we were immediately opening 13,000 kitchens, that is not the case. We already have in our data around 13,000-plus kitchens with all their statuses. Some are just points, some are already completed,” Sudaryono said on the same occasion.
“From this data, we overlay it with Ministry of Health data on which areas are priorities. Those with high and very high stunting rates, we then map them and overlay them with data on kitchens that are ready,” he continued.
From the mapping results, BGN recorded that around 1,700 kitchens are ready to operate in areas categorised as having high and very high stunting rates.
“From the overlay data, there are around 1,700 data points or kitchens that are ready, already built, just waiting to operate, located in areas with high and very high stunting rates. We will gradually sort these out. God willing, next week we will activate around 300, the following week more, so that we can comb through all 13,000 and identify which ones are not yet needed,” he explained.
Sudaryono stressed that the priority for activating MBG kitchens will be focused on the areas that need them most, such as Papua, NTT, Nias, and the island regions of Maluku and North Maluku.
“Decisions have been made. What is clear is that we currently have around 27,000-plus that we are combing through, including the beneficiaries in which schools, we are combing through all of them. Once that is done, next week we will prioritise what is lacking. The regions of Papua, NTT, Nias, the remote areas in the North Maluku and Maluku islands are far away and they really need this,” he concluded.