President Prabowo Subianto has dismissed the head of Indonesia’s national free meals programme following reports of food poisoning among schoolchildren, a move that has drawn attention from British officials monitoring supply chain risks in the region.
The director of the ‘Makan Siang Gratis’ (Free Lunch) initiative was removed with immediate effect on Wednesday, according to a statement from the presidential palace. No successor has been named, and the programme has been temporarily suspended in affected districts.
The decision came after at least 47 children in East Java and West Sulawesi were hospitalised with symptoms of foodborne illness between Monday and Tuesday. Local health authorities confirmed that preliminary tests pointed to bacterial contamination in meals distributed by two contracted suppliers.
The free meals scheme, launched in January as a flagship social policy, aims to provide nutritious lunches to 18 million schoolchildren across the archipelago. It is a cornerstone of Prabowo’s populist agenda, designed to address malnutrition and improve school attendance.
However, the programme has faced logistical challenges from the outset, including inadequate cold chain infrastructure, untrained kitchen staff, and opaque procurement processes. The poisoning incidents have intensified scrutiny of oversight mechanisms.
Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) confirmed that it is monitoring the situation, given that several British-owned agribusinesses are part of the supply chain for fortified rice and cooking oil used in the meals. A spokesperson said the UK government is liaising with Indonesian authorities and the companies concerned.
“We take food safety very seriously and expect all partners in our supply chains to maintain the highest standards,” the spokesperson added. “We are providing consular assistance to any affected British nationals, though none have been reported so far.”
The dismissal is the first high-profile sacking of a Prabowo appointee since he took office in October last year. It signals the president’s sensitivity to issues of public health and governance, as he seeks to project stability ahead of local elections scheduled for November.
Political analysts said the swift removal was intended to deflect blame from the president’s office and to demonstrate accountability. “Prabowo is showing he can act decisively. But the root causes are institutional,” said Dr. Andi Rahmat, a political scientist at the University of Indonesia. “The question is whether the next director will have the authority and resources to fix them.”
The free meals programme is part of a broader effort by Indonesia to reduce stunting rates, which remain among the highest in Southeast Asia. The World Bank has provided technical assistance, but the project has also attracted scrutiny from international NGOs over transparency standards.
In response to the crisis, Prabowo’s office announced that all suppliers to the programme will be audited within 30 days, and that a new food safety protocol will be implemented before the suspension is lifted.
British companies directly affected declined to comment on the record, but one supply chain manager based in Jakarta said the incident “could have broader implications for investor confidence in Indonesia’s public procurement systems”.
The suspension of the programme is expected to affect approximately 2.3 million children in the short term. Local officials have been instructed to provide alternative meals using emergency budgets until the audit is complete.
