JAKARTA, Oct 30 — The authorities are investigating food poisoning cases involving nearly 700 children in Yogyakarta province this week, after students ate meals prepared under President Prabowo Subianto's key free school meal programme.
The school meal programme, rolled out in January, was a major election campaign promise from Prabowo, but as of yesterday, some 15,000 children have fallen ill, data from the non-governmental organisation known locally as JPPI showed.
It has called for the programme to be suspended.
The authorities have said that improper food storage and late delivery of cooked meals are often to blame for the poisoning.
In the Indonesian region of Gunungkidul in Yogyakarta, some 660 students from two separate schools fell ill from poisoning after eating free school meals, regional head Endah Subekti Kuntariningsih said on her Instagram account yesterday.
National Nutrition Agency (BGN) chief Dadan Hindayana, whose organisation runs the programme, told Reuters today that authorities were investigating the Gunungkidul cases and had temporarily closed nearby kitchens.
There are 11,000 kitchens across the sprawling archipelago.
Earlier this month, he told Reuters that the free meals are expected to reach about 70 million recipients by the end of this year, below the government's initial target of 83 million due to a lack of kitchens.
BGN said separately yesterday that it had instructed kitchen staff to reduce food portions to maintain freshness and prevent contamination.
Yesterday, Prabowo formed a team of ministers, including the health minister and the BGN chief, to better supervise the programme.
The government has earmarked 171 trillion rupiah (RM43.24 billion) for the programme this year, but BGN will only be able to spend 99 trillion rupiah (RM25 billion) by year-end.
