Prabowo Opens Free Meal Program Kitchens to Public Complaints

6 hours ago 4

March 20, 2026 | 11:40 am

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto emphasizes that everyone is allowed to check the free nutritious meal kitchens (MBG). According to Prabowo, the public is free to voice complaints to the nutrition fulfillment service units (SPPG) that provide food for the flagship program.

According to Prabowo, the location of each MBG kitchen should be made public, especially to the residents of the surrounding SPPG area, so that they can inspect the kitchen's suitability. "The coordinates of the kitchen are known by the surrounding community," said Prabowo in a statement released by the Presidential Secretariat on Thursday night, March 19, 2026.

Prabowo expressed his stance during a question and answer session in Hambalang, Bogor, West Java, which took place from Wednesday night until early Thursday morning. In the interview, Prabowo answered questions from several journalists and experts whom he invited to his residence.

The Chair of the Gerindra Party said that the public is allowed to express their complaints about the free nutritious meal directly to the SPPG. "Anyone can check (the SPPG). The school principal, parents, and the surrounding community can enter and complain," he said.

Prabowo encourages the public to actively report SPPGs that still have shortcomings. "Reporting only the good aspects is not a good culture. We must be brave in facing reality," said the former Minister of Defense.

According to Prabowo, the government also provides various public oversight mechanisms. In addition to monitoring MBG kitchens directly on-site, the public can also use the National Nutrition Agency's (BGN) emergency channel at number 127. He said that transparency and public engagement are key to ensuring the success of the MBG program.

The MBG program often receives various complaints during its implementation, ranging from cases of food poisoning and unhygienic kitchens to allegations of a lack of transparency from critics.

Chair of the Legal Affairs, Human Rights, and Leadership Wisdom Division of Muhammadiyah's Central Leadership Busyro Muqoddas, for example, stated that the MBG program is not transparent and anti-democratic. He said the government is increasingly determined to impose its program unilaterally with a poor and non-transparent bureaucracy, without public participation.

According to Busyro, actions like this are not new. They started during the era of former President Joko Widodo and have continued with greater strength under President Prabowo Subianto.

"The MBG program is not separate from the political culture that we currently feel, which is becoming more anti-democratic, anti-criticism, and anti-human rights," he said, attending a press conference of the Save Indonesian Education Coalition (Kospi) at the Legal Aid Institute Foundation (YLBH) office in Central Jakarta, Monday, March 9, 2026, in a virtual manner.

In an effort to increase transparency, the National Nutrition Agency requires MBG kitchens to upload their menus to social media. Not only the menu, but also the nutritional content and price.

"By being required to upload to social media, there is at least an element of shame. There must also be nutrition and price information on each package, this is a form of transparency and public accountability," said Deputy Head of the National Nutrition Agency Sony Sanjaya as quoted from Antara, Friday, March 6, 2026.

Eka Yudha Saputra contributed to this article

Read: BGN Head: Each SPPG Receives Rp1 Billion Monthly for MBG

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