More than 700 fall ill in latest food poisoning linked to Indonesia’s free school meals

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Hundreds of students and teachers in Rembang, Indonesia, fell ill after eating meals provided under the government’s free school lunch programme. — AFP pic

SEMARANG, Sept 4 — Hundreds of students and teachers in Indonesia have fallen ill after eating free school meals, their principal said yesterday, the second major food poisoning this week linked to the government’s hallmark programme.

The multi-billion-dollar meal scheme, launched in January last year, is one of President Prabowo Subianto’s signature policies. It has been widely criticised for its high costs, with hundreds demonstrating in Jakarta last week calling for it to be scrapped.

At least 725 pupils and 25 teachers in Rembang, on Java Island, complained they felt sick yesterday morning after consuming the free lunch on Wednesday.

“They had diarrhoea, they were vomiting, and felt nauseous. There was a queue at the bathrooms because two of our toilets are under renovation,” said the school’s principal Juhartutik, who, like many Indonesians, has only one name.

She told reporters that kitchen staff said the food was prepared at 3 am and served at noon.

A doctor at a local health clinic, Joko Paryanto, said 18 students and teachers had to be brought in for treatment, and three of them were still hospitalised.

The incident came just days after more than 500 students in Sidoarjo, East Java, were taken to hospital after consuming the free lunch meal on Tuesday.

The national nutrition agency, the government body tasked with distributing the free meals, said on Wednesday that at least 80 students were still hospitalised.

The scheme has been blighted by mass food poisonings and corruption claims since it started.

“This has already become a national alarm. Tens of thousands of people have fallen victim since the free meal scheme was implemented, and every month new victims keep emerging,” Ubaid Matraji, a researcher at the Indonesian Education Monitoring Network, said in a statement yesterday.

“The government cannot continue to treat them as mere statistical figures. Behind every number there is a sick child, a panicked family, and the state’s failure to guarantee safe food.”

The free meal scheme had a goal of reaching at least 82.9 million children, and pregnant and breastfeeding women — nearly one-third of the country’s population.

But it was among the first budget items to be cut back as Jakarta moved to counter the economic impact of the Middle East war.

More than 20 per cent of children in Indonesia are affected by stunting caused by severe malnutrition. — AFP