Over 2,000 Suffer Food Poisoning After Free School Meals in Indonesia; Rights Group Urges Swift Probe

Over 2,000 people suffer food poisoning after free school lunches in Indonesia; rights group calls for swift investigation

September 4

Indonesia's top human rights body has urged police to investigate as quickly as possible a series of food poisoning cases linked to the government's free school lunch program.

The program was launched last year by President Prabowo Subianto to combat malnutrition, providing free lunches to students. However, more than 2,000 students and teachers fell ill with food poisoning this week after eating meals served under the scheme.

The human rights body Komnas HAM has also called on the National Nutrition Agency, which oversees the program, to temporarily suspend the meal preparation centers where the poisoning incidents occurred.

On September 3, around 170 students and teachers were poisoned after eating free lunches in the Tana Toraja region of South Sulawesi province, according to reports.

Prior to that, similar food poisoning cases occurred in Central Java, East Java, and West Sumatra provinces, with more than 1,700 people requiring medical treatment. In East Java, an additional 256 students were poisoned, CNN Indonesia reported.

Indonesian lawmaker Charles Honoris, citing health ministry data, said that nationwide, around 50,000 people had suffered food poisoning as of September 1.

As food poisoning cases continue to emerge, public support for the government's free school lunch program has also declined. In a survey conducted in July, only about one-third of Indonesian citizens expressed satisfaction with the government's program.


Ref & Photo; Reuters

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