Indonesia faces calls to halt free meal program as over 5,000 schoolchildren fall ill

Indonesia’s government was facing calls on Thursday to suspend President Prabowo Subianto ‘s multi-billion-dollar free meals program after thousands of school pupils fell ill in an food poisoning outbreak.

BANDUNG, Indonesia — Indonesia’s government was facing calls on Thursday to suspend President Prabowo Subianto’s multibillion-dollar free meal program after thousands of schoolchildren fell ill in a food poisoning outbreak.

Television reports showed hospital wards filled with children, with some crying in pain and clutching their stomachs, while police officers and health workers carried away other victims in ambulances, vans and trucks.

The Free Nutritious Meal program was started in January with the aim of fighting malnutrition by feeding nearly 90 million children and pregnant women. The initiative, which is expected to cost $28 billion through 2029, delivers on a campaign promise by Prabowo, who was elected last year to lead the Southeast Asian nation of more than 282 million people.

The National Nutrition Agency recorded about 1,376 cases of school-linked food poisoning cases between January and the end of June. The number of students affected rose to 4,711 this week, with more than 1,000 victims reported just in West Java province, which was the hardest hit.

Agency chief Dadan Hindayana said kitchens with poisoning cases had been suspended and local governments had set up task forces of nutritionists and health workers to supervise the free meals.