The architect of Indonesia’s flagship free school meals programme has been sacked. President Prabowo Subianto dismissed the scheme’s director this morning after a wave of food poisonings hit schoolchildren across Java and Sumatra. The move comes as hospitals report hundreds of cases, with two children in intensive care in East Java. For the families hit by this crisis, the promise of a hot meal has turned into a nightmare.
The free meals initiative, launched with great fanfare in January, was meant to tackle child malnutrition. It was Prabowo’s signature policy, a $28bn pledge to feed 83 million students. But now it is the source of national shame. Contaminated rice and spoiled fish have been traced to several suppliers. The sacked director, a former army logistics officer, had no background in food safety. Critics say the rush to rollout ignored basic checks. ‘They treated children like soldiers, expecting them to eat whatever was thrown at them,’ said a local teacher in Semarang.
For working parents, the collapse of trust is devastating. Ibu Sari, a single mother in Jakarta, told me her daughter came home vomiting after lunch. ‘I send her to school so she can learn and be fed. Now I am afraid to let her eat there.’ The programme was a lifeline for families struggling with rising rice prices. Now they face a choice between hunger and fear.
Prabowo’s government has promised a full investigation and a new food safety czar. But this is a political wound that will not heal quickly. The president, a former general with a reputation for strong leadership, now looks careless. His popularity, already dented by the rising cost of living, has taken another hit. Union leaders have called for a public inquiry. ‘This is a systemic failure,’ said Rini Astuti of the National Labour Union. ‘It shows what happens when you put profits before people.’ The sacking may be a first step, but the question of who will feed Indonesia’s children remains unanswered.
