TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Free meals program lacks public transparency, accountability: ICW
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
A student of state junior high school (SMPN) 1 Denpasar in Bali shows a variety of food received as part of the government free meals program on March 17, 2025. (Antara/Fikri Yusuf)
R
ecent findings by antigraft watchdog Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) showed President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship initiative, the free nutritious meal program, lacks key principles of good governance, showing poor accountability and transparency and leaving it vulnerable to fund mismanagement.
ICW’s report was based on a survey conducted from March 12 to April 24 across 30 schools in Jakarta, ranging from kindergarten to senior high school, and included visits to six of the 14 operational kitchens in the capital.
The watchdog uncovered multiple issues in the program’s daily implementation. In several schools, meals were delivered late because of poor distribution systems, disrupting class time.
ICW also found inconsistent nutrition and sanitation standards; some schools received meals containing “rotten eggs and bland foods”, while others had meals delivered in plastic bags instead of proper stainless-steel containers.
“The students’ complaints and the school principals’ suggestions were often ignored, which shows the lack of openness to evaluation for the program’s improvement,” ICW researcher Eva Nurcahyani said during the report’s launch and discussion on Tuesday in Tebet, South Jakarta.
Read also: Free meal program faces hurdles on food safety, funds management
Eva argued that the lack of transparency was also apparent from ICW’s struggle to find which schools had implemented the program.
