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Prabowo apologizes for delay in free meals distribution

Prabowo said that the free meal program was still in its initial stage and that it could not instantly be applied to all schools across the country.

News Desk (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Mon, January 20, 2025

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Prabowo apologizes for delay in free meals distribution Students eat lunches on Sept. 26, 2024, as part of a trial of the free nutritious meals program during their break time at a school in Sukabumi, West Java. (REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan)

P

resident Prabowo Subianto on Monday issued an apology for the delay in the implementation of the free meals program and promised that the program would be started nationwide by the end of this year.

Prabowo said that the free meal program was still in its initial stage and that it could not instantly be applied to all schools across the country.

"It's very difficult physically for the nutritious meals to be available to everyone. So, I am Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia's President, [and] I apologize to all parents and all the children who have not received free meals," Prabowo said on Monday, as quoted by Antara.

The President said that the delay in the program was caused by meticulous execution and monitoring to prevent corruption and inefficiency.

"We have a process to ensure that funding for the program is not lost and that will take time. But I have stressed that we need to find out the fastest and the best way to deliver this to students," Prabowo said.

"I am convinced that by the end of 2025 all children in Indonesia will get [free] nutritious meals," Prabowo said.

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President Prabowo's ambitious multi-billion-dollar program to provide free meals to more than a quarter of the Indonesian people was officially started on Jan. 6.

Despite being the centerpiece of an election campaign that brought Prabowo to power last year, the scheme was rolled out with little fanfare in early January, with no official launch and just 190 kitchens involved in preparing the first meals to school children and pregnant women in more than 20 provinces. 

The free meal plan will be a Herculean logistical effort when in full swing, with a target of reaching 82.9 million of the country's 280 million population by 2029.

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