PIKIRAN RAKYAT - The elected president of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto, plans to establish the National Nutrition Centre to support his free nutritious food program. This has become the subject of public discussion. Silfester Matutina, Vice Chairman of the Prabowo-Gibran Campaign Team, is sure this is not a discourse.

Silfester said the National Nutrition Centre (Badan Gizi Nasional) was established to succeed in the free nutritious food program which was the priority of the Prabowo-Gibran government.

He confirmed that this new centre is still in the middle of the discussion process by the transition team and National Campaign Team (TKN). Silfester ensures no overlap with other ministries, such as the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Health.

“Till today, we are still doing the research. The synchronization team and the council of experts in TKN always work together. We do the research. The point is that when Mr Prabowo-Gibran is inaugurated, he can immediately do the program,” He said on Saturday, 22 June 2024.

From his point of view, the existence of the National Nutrition Agency will increase the effectiveness of the free nutritious meal programme due to rapid coordination and the absence of sectoral ego.

“If we have one specific institution, it will be easier and simpler. Organise operations to assist the elected president,” he said.

He emphasised that there is no guarantee regarding the composition of the National Nutrition Agency's members, whether they will be dominated by professionals or from the TKN as well as volunteers. In-depth studies, he added, are still being pursued.

"There is no personal figure yet, but the point is that we are still conducting studies and comparison studies. Indeed, there are cross-sectoral, advanced Indonesia coalition party friends, TKN and volunteers, we are still studying," he said.

Not only the realisation of Prabowo-Gibran's nutritious meal programme, the agency is also intended as a medium of education and socialisation to the public regarding nutritious intake to increase the number of stunting-free children and healthy mothers.

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menko Marves), Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, has discussed the budget to fund Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka's nutritious meal programme. He said the budget will be disbursed in stages, starting from Rp20 trillion.

This was conveyed at the Jakarta Supply Chain Dynamic in Critical Minerals Geopolitical event on Thursday, 20 June 2024.

"Our figure starts with maybe Rp20 trillion, and gradually, as we go," he said, quoted by Pikiran-Rakyat.com from Antara on Friday, 21 June 2024.

He also denied that the state budget could not finance the nutritious meal programme. He explained that based on a scenario calculated by the ministry, with a budget deficit of 2.5 per cent, Indonesia could allocate Rp612 trillion for various things, including nutritious meals. Then, the construction of the Sumatra toll road and the construction of the Nusantara Capital City (IKN).

"So I think it's good. People are afraid that our budget will not be strong; there will be no problem gradually," he said. With digitalisation, we can significantly reduce the leakage so that we can improve again," he said. ***(Politeknik Negeri Bandung/Ahyaithannisa Taufik)