Prabowo’s flagship free meals programme has become the target of food safety concerns and heated anti-government protests.
Some 365 people have fallen ill in an Indonesian town after eating school lunches, the largest spate of food poisonings to hit President Prabowo Subianto‘s free meals program so far.
The meals have temporarily been suspended in Sragen, in central Java, as food samples are being tested for contamination, local authorities said.
The program – which costs an estimated $28bn (£21bn) – delivers on a campaign promise by the president to combat stunting in the country.
But it has been plagued by a string of food poisonings, as well as criticisms that its high price tag has put considerable strain on the government’s finances – with several ministries having their budgets cut as a result.
Wizdan Ridho Abimanyu, a ninth-grader in Sragen, told Reuters he was awakened in the middle of the night by a sharp pain in his stomach.
He suffered from diarrhoea and a headache, which he suspected was caused by food poisoning. He later saw schoolmates complaining of similar symptoms in their social media posts.
The alleged culprit was a meal comprising turmeric rice, scrambled eggs, fried tempeh, a cucumber salad and a box of milk – all prepared in a central kitchen and distributed to several schools in town.
The government has said it would cover any medical expenses incurred as a result.
“We cannot draw any specific conclusions right away,” Sigit Pamungkas, leader of the town’s government, had told Indonesia’s Tempo newspaper.
“But the main point is that it’s not just [happening here],” he said, adding that the free meals program as a whole “needs to be more stringent and more hygienic”.
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More than 1000 people across the country have fallen ill since the launch of the ambitious program in January, which is aimed at feeding the country’s 80 million school children.
Prabowo had ordered $19bn in cuts to pay for the free meal scheme – along with other populist schemes. As a result, several ministries had their budgets slashed by half and bucreaucrats alleged that they were forced to scrimp by limiting the use of air conditioners, lifts and even printers.
Thousands took to the streets as a result, with one protest sign reading: “Children eat for free, parents are laid off”.
But on Friday, Prabowo defended the programme in his first State of the National Address, saying that it along with other social initiatives will help transform Indonesia into a country that is “free from poverty, free from hunger, free from suffering”. — BBC via SG
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