Tangerang to Pilot Prabowo's Free Nutritious Meal Program for 20,000 Students
Tangerang, Indonesia - The Tangerang City Government (Pemkot) is set to pilot test the Free Nutritious Meal program from August 5 to 9, 2024. The program targets tens of thousands of elementary and junior high school students.
According to the City Secretary (Sekda) of Tangerang, Herman Suwarman, the city has allocated funds for the pilot program and has carefully prepared the implementation mechanism to ensure it reaches the right target.
"We are committed to making this pilot project a success. Various preparations are underway, starting from budgeting, implementation, distribution, to pilot testing before it is implemented in early August," he said.
Herman added that the Free Nutritious Meal program will be piloted in 20 schools, targeting 20,157 elementary and junior high school students. The Tangerang City Government is optimistic that the pilot program initiated by Prabowo Subianto can run smoothly.
"We hope that everything goes smoothly, the pilot project implementation process in Tangerang City can run smoothly and can be adopted nationally," he said.
Meanwhile, according to the Acting (Pj.) Mayor of Tangerang, the Free Nutritious Meal program is important to implement to support the growth and development of Indonesian children. The Tangerang City Government fully supports this priority program of Prabowo.
The Tangerang City Government has chosen a menu that suits the taste of children in Tangerang City. The packaging is also specially designed to be more attractive so that children are more eager and enjoy the food served to them.
"The readiness is smooth for Tangerang City, where this pilot project is expected to become a model that will be adopted nationally, starting from school selection to the preparation of procurement and distribution mechanisms to menu standards," he said.
In addition to Tangerang City, Cilegon City was also chosen as a pilot location for the Free Nutritious Meal program. The Mayor of Cilegon, Helldy Agustian, admitted that he strongly supports this program to improve the quality of life of the local community.
Special Staff (Stafsus) to the Secretary General (Sekjen) Wantannas RI, Taviota Boy, hopes that the Tangerang City Government and the Cilegon City Government can implement the Free Nutritious Meal program in the long term to build a foundation for the health of the next generation.
Meanwhile, the Free Nutritious Meal program was previously called the Free Lunch program. According to Prabowo, Indonesian children must get balanced nutrition for optimal growth and development so that they become superior human resources (HR).
However, this program has been criticized by some because it is considered to burden the State Budget (APBN) which is starting to thin. The implementation of the Free Nutritious Meal program is also considered quite complex and will not run smoothly so that the results are not optimal.
(*/Red)