Hasan Nasbi, a member of the Prabowo-Gibran Synchronization Task Force’s Communication Division, emphasized that the rumor regarding the budget for nutritious free meals for school students being cut to IDR 7,500 per child is merely an issue and not an official statement from the team.
The rumor was initially spread by economist Heriyanto Irawan from Verdhana Sekuritas. Heriyanto claimed to have been in discussions with Prabowo’s team regarding the nutritious free meals.
“That was just a statement or perhaps an idea from the economist. It is not an official statement from the team,” Hasan told reporters on Friday (19/7).
Hasan stated that the primary focus of the President-elect Prabowo Subianto and Vice President-elect Gibran Rakabuming Raka is to provide meals that meet nutritional adequacy standards.
“So, the measure is nutritional adequacy. This adequacy is determined by nutrition experts,” he explained.
Regarding the cost per child, Hasan mentioned that there are currently many ideas and suggestions from various parties being carefully reviewed, and no specific figure has been set yet.
“Everything is being carefully reviewed and tested by the Expert Council. To date, no specific figure has been set as the standard because our benchmark is nutritional adequacy,” he said.
Hasan explained that the regions in Indonesia have diverse nutritional sources, leading to different local menus in each area. The fulfillment of nutritional standards will be adjusted according to the availability of food ingredients and local menus in each region.
“In various regions, to meet nutritional standards, the types of menus vary according to the availability of food ingredients and local menus in each place. The prices, of course, will also vary,” he explained.
Previously, Gibran also spoke out regarding the rumor of cutting the nutritious free meal budget to IDR 7,500 per child. He urged everyone not to report on uncertain matters.
“Who said that? Wait for the confirmation first,” Gibran said on Thursday (18/7).
“Just wait, don’t report on things that are not yet certain,” he said.
Gibran also mentioned that the ongoing trials for nutritious free meals use a budget of IDR 15,000 per person.
“So far, the trials have been using IDR 15,000. Just wait for the confirmation,” he explained.