Zulhas Exposes Irregularities in Free Nutritious Meal Programme, Local Procurement Failing to Stimulate Village Economies

The government has uncovered various governance violations in the implementation of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) Programme that threaten to hamper President Prabowo Subianto’s main objective of making the programme an economic driver for villages and regions. Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan asserted that the MBG programme is not only aimed at providing nutritious food to the public but is also designed to create an economic turnover cycle at the village, sub-district, and local micro-enterprise levels. Despite this, the latest evaluation results show that many Nutritional Fulfilment Service Units (SPPG) are not implementing governance in accordance with the provisions. “Ladies and gentlemen, there are also many SPPGs that are running well, not that there are none, many, yes. And we have already created the governance framework, and it has also been found that many are not in accordance with the governance,” Zulhas said at Graha Mandiri Building, Central Jakarta, on Thursday. According to Zulhas, the government had stipulated from the start that the raw material needs for MBG kitchens must be supplied from the surrounding environment so that the economic benefits can be directly felt by the local community. “The governance for the SPPG requires them to source their raw material suppliers from the respective village, from the respective location, whether it be the Merah Putih Village Cooperative, Village-Owned Enterprises, MSMEs, or other village businesses. Therefore, the SPPG must have many suppliers,” he explained. This scheme was designed so that the state budget disbursed through MBG does not merely stop at food provision but also creates demand for farmers, breeders, cooperatives, village-owned enterprises, and MSMEs in the regions. However, in its implementation, the Head of the National Nutrition Agency, Nanik S Deyang, and her team found various irregularities causing this goal to not yet run optimally. “So, this was also found extensively by Mrs. Nanik and colleagues; many violations occurred because, by order of the President, this SPPG must be able to grow the economy in the region and sub-district,” Zulhas stressed. He gave an example of how implementation compliant with governance standards can have a direct impact on the community’s economic stability. One instance occurred in East Java when the National Nutrition Agency increased the absorption of eggs from local breeders when prices were declining.