OMM Redaksiyası
Sixty parents in Indonesia have filed a police complaint after their children reportedly fell ill following food distributed under the government’s free school meals program. It is the first legal challenge to one of President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship policies.
The complaint names Indonesia’s National Nutrition Agency, which implements the program, as well as the kitchen that prepared the meals and the schools that distributed them to students. The complaint was filed on Aug. 31 but shared with the media only on Thursday.
According to one of the parents, Fitri Sijabat, at least 300 students at several junior and senior high schools in the Karo area of North Sumatra became ill after eating the free meals in mid-August. Some students were hospitalized.
Fitri’s 17-year-old daughter, Agnes, was among those affected. She was taken to hospital and discharged the following day. Several days later, however, she was hospitalized again with nausea, itching and numbness. Agnes received hospital treatment four times within a month.
“I hope they will suspend the program. If our children are ending up in this condition, why should the state budget be wasted?” Fitri said.
The parents’ lawyer, Aslia Sijabat, said the complaint calls for an investigation into possible negligence, the identification of those responsible, the filing of criminal charges and compensation for the affected families.
No specific person has been named as a suspect, and no particular criminal charge has been filed. The lawyer also said the parents were preparing a separate lawsuit against the government, which they plan to submit to a district court soon.
According to The Jakarta Post, Karo police are awaiting the results of forensic tests on food samples conducted at the North Sumatra Police forensic laboratory. Police spokesperson Pedoman Maha said investigators were also questioning students, teachers and a nutrition specialist.
The Karo incident is not the first mass poisoning case linked to the program in Indonesia. In recent weeks, numerous people in different parts of the country have reportedly fallen ill after consuming the free meals. More than 2,000 people in several provinces reported health problems after eating the meals last week alone.
The program was one of President Prabowo Subianto’s campaign promises. The project has been allocated 229 trillion Indonesian rupiah, or about $13 billion, for its current phase. It aims to provide food to 83 million schoolchildren and pregnant women across the country.
The program’s budget has already been cut once, and two directors have been replaced. One of the directors is under police investigation over corruption allegations. Claims of mismanagement and corruption have emerged since the program began. More than 50,000 cases of food poisoning have so far been linked to the program, raising questions about its safe and sustainable implementation.
Indonesia’s free meals initiative is intended to address child nutrition and food insecurity on a nationwide scale. Its rollout has placed significant demands on food preparation, distribution and quality-control systems, making oversight and rapid investigation of reported illnesses central to public confidence in the program.
