Hundreds of children were poisoned in Indonesia after consuming a free school dish, so some parents pushed to avoid a model scheme to eliminate hunger.
In the greatest mass impersonation since January. The 400 people started in the diagrams of the Bengkulu-Provision on the southwestern coast of Sumatra island, and 12-year-olds were rushed to the hospital.
This incident is the last blow to the presidential Prabaw Subiano, a former general, a sworn authority, ambitious plan to fight stunning and malnutrition, with more than 80 million people this year.
Mr Prabawo said the initiative would turn an expanding archipelago “without poverty, without hunger”.
However, in 2025 alone. Politics at a cost of 121 trillion rupees (5.5 billion pounds) in 2025 only caused disputes.
Credit: Reuters
The demonstrations first erupted in February after ministries, including health and education, will be reduced by around £ 14 billion to fund food. The protesters went out on the streets with slogans like “children eat free, parents are forgiven” – the generous budget enhanced the feeling of irresponsible government spending, despite the high unemployment and permanent estate.
The quality of the program itself is also checked. The photos show school dishes stuffed with particularly treated food, including biscuits and burgers, and food poisoning was such a major problem that some parents began to tell their children not to eat free food.
“Parents’ confidence, as they will continue to see children with food poisoning,” Diah Saminarsih, founder and CEO of the Indonesian Strategic Development Initiative Center, told The Telegraph.
“We heard parents say that, although their children could eat from a free meal program, [they now] Just bring food and drinks from home, ”she said.
The school officer also said the BBC that some parents started packing domestic lunch for children so they shouldn’t eat free meals.
Free meals at school have been criticized for the inclusion of unhealthy fast food
According to Bengkulu local authorities, more than 400 students became ill, and 12 years old, under 12, were rushed to a local hospital and complained of stomach aches.
The province’s vice president of the governor said the investigation was initiated and surgery suspended in the kitchen supplying food.
The incident is not a separate case. Since the program was started in January.
Last month, 365 people became ill while eating a free school dish in the central Java.
According to local media, laboratory studies later linked the mass poisoning event with poor sanitary measures.
“The main thing is that it’s not just [happening here]- Sigitas Pamungkas, leader of the tempo Tempo Tempo. He said the whole program “must be stricter and more hygienic”.
It is a little controversial that nutrition is an important problem of Indonesia – according to UNICEF, the country is fighting “triple dietary burden”. 2023 21.5 percent Children were intoxicated and 4.2 percent. – Overweight. Nutrition disadvantages are also significant when a quarter of pregnant mothers and teen girls anemia.
A program aimed at dealing with these problems by providing healthy, free food in schools throughout a huge country with about 285 million people in thousands of islands.
The Indonesian government wants to eliminate hunger by feeding millions of people – Hotli Simanjuntak/EPA/Shutterstock
The budget of the initiative led by the National Nutrition Agency was 121 trillion rupees (5.5 billion pounds) in 2025, increasing to 225 trillion (£ 10.1 billion) next year. This makes it one of the most expensive of its kind – India spends £ 1,115 billion a year to feed 120 million children a year and Brazil spends about as many 40 million students.
Indonesia has created centralized kitchens, called “Nutritian Services Centers”, owned by third -party catering services and sometimes military bases. They are believed to buy local ingredients and turn them into sincere school dishes.
However, attitudes and implementation were criticized.
“We are at the point where we have to deal with nutrition problems … But the mass distribution of the dishes is not quite the correct answer,” said Mrs. Saminarsh, adding that a universal program is to better use resources to focus on target aid to the most vulnerable.
Jimmy Berliano, a senior research and political analyst at the Center for Indonesia, said that the management was also “at best”, leaving the scheme open violence.
March The Bureau of Indonesia’s fight against the transplant noted “realistic fraud” and had already undergone plundering studies.
“The implementation was the horizon of poisoning, recurring ultrasound foods, as well as the risk of corruption, which is a lack of observation and transparency, along with a huge budget,” he said. Berliant.
“It ended with the realization that the government is irresponsibly spending our tax money, so it is inseparable from the present bustle.”
For more than a week, demonstrators went to Jakarta’s streets, led to anger about luxurious privileges for politicians in the third largest democracy in the world.
Trigger was a newly proposed regulation that would give parliamentarians 50 million rupees (£ 2230) housing, which increased the feeling that people in power enrich themselves and waste taxpayers’ money at a time of 16 percent and middle class decreases.
The protests became violent after a young motorcycle taxi driver Affan Kurniawan was killed when he was overtaken by a police vehicle. In total, at least 10 people died in rallies across the country, and according to the Indonesian Legal Aid Fund, more than 1000 were rushed to the hospital.
Protests on government spending in Jakarta became brutal – Willy Kurniawan/Reuters
Last weekend, Mr Prabowo was forced to report that the privileges of politicians, including housing and travel benefits, were forced to report last weekend.
However, many protesters said the step was not far enough. In addition to economic and management problems, they criticized the expanding role of the army in the civil government, under the leadership of the former general and the son of once Surhar.
“There is a reasonable concern for freedom of expression and freedom of collection,” he said. Berliant.
He added: “I think unroar has recently shown that there is a large part of the current social and economic positions … And he values the government as fiscal. That is why the nutrition program is a fire.
“There is concern about the possibilities of prices-not just intoxication, which is a very real health risk, or because of particularly processed foods fighting what they seek. But because it will reduce other education and health programs.”
Mr. Berliano said it was not yet clear what was specifically reduced, but urged him to expand the school dishes to pause until stronger food standards and control systems were installed.
“The observation was weak and the poisoning incidents are the tip of the iceberg,” he said. “I think its essence, valid management decisions are not yet ready to determine the program to this extent.”
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