Rights Body Urges Probe After About 2,000 Fall Ill From Indonesia’s Free School Meals
Komnas HAM’s request escalates pressure on the National Nutrition Agency to suspend implicated kitchens for police testing and criminal investigation.
Overview
- This week roughly 2,000 students and teachers across multiple provinces reported food-poisoning symptoms after eating meals from the government’s free school meals programme.
- More than 500 students in Sidoarjo, East Java were treated after a suspected outbreak and police took meal samples for testing.
- Komnas HAM has asked police to open formal probes and urged the agency that runs the programme to suspend kitchens said to be responsible, and the agency has delayed a planned press briefing.
- Officials and watchdogs point to repeated operational failures such as improper food storage, late delivery and substandard kitchen practices, and the programme has already shut hundreds of kitchens and faced a corruption arrest and leadership changes.
- Public confidence has fallen and investors worry about the scheme’s multibillion-dollar cost, so outcomes to watch include lab results, any criminal charges, and whether the agency implements lasting safety and oversight reforms.