Il Nuovo Postiglione - Indonesia free meal plan stunted by delays, protests, poisonings

"My daughter had a stomachache, diarrhoea, and a headache," the woman told AFP on condition of anonymity about the incident in the Javan city of Bandung.

"She also couldn't stop vomiting until three in the morning."

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto touted the populist scheme as a solution to the high rates of stunted growth among children, as he carved his way to a landslide election victory last year.

But its rollout since January has stumbled from crisis to crisis, including accusations of nepotism, funding delays, protests and a spate of food poisonings.

It was slated to reach as many as 17.5 million children this year to the tune of $4.3 billion.

But so far it has only served five million students nationwide from January to mid-June, according to the finance ministry.

The poisoning issues were not isolated to that girl's school -- five others reported similar incidents.

But Prabowo has lauded the number of illnesses as a positive.

"Indeed there was a poisoning today, around 200 people out of three million," he said in May.

"Over five were hospitalised, so that means the success rate is 99.99 percent. A 99.99 percent success rate in any field is a good thing."

- Rushed policy -

Large-scale aid programmes in Indonesia have a history of allegations of graft at both the regional and national levels.

Experts say this programme is particularly vulnerable, with little in the way of accountability.

"A big budget means the possibility of corruption is wide open, and with lax monitoring, corruption can happen," said Egi Primayogha, a researcher at Indonesia Corruption Watch.

"Since the beginning, the programme was rushed, without any good planning. There is no transparency."

The programme was rolled out soon after Prabowo took office in October and local investigative magazine Tempo reported that "several partners appointed" were Prabowo supporters in the election.

Agus Pambagio, a Jakarta-based public policy expert, said Prabowo rushed the plan, with critics saying there was little public consultation.

"Japan and India have been doing it for decades. If we want to do it just like them within a few months, it's suicide," he said.

"We can't let fatalities happen."

The plan's stated aim is to combat stunting, which affects more than 20 percent of the country's children, and reduce that rate to five percent by 2045.

Prabowo's administration has allocated $0.62 per meal and initially set a budget of 71 trillion rupiah ($4.3 billion) for this year.

But authorities have been accused of delays and under-funding the programme.

A catering business in capital Jakarta had to temporarily shut down in March because the government had not paid the $60,000 it was owed. The case went viral and it eventually got its money back.

- Poses risks -

The government announced a $6.2 billion budget boost recently but revised it by half as problems mounted in its ambitious quest to deliver meals to almost 83 million people by 2029.

Widespread cuts to fund the programme's large budget also sparked protests across Indonesian cities in February.

Yet some say the programme has benefited their child.

"It's quite helpful. I still give my son pocket money, but since he got free lunch, he could save that money," Reni Parlina, 46, told AFP.

However a May survey by research institute Populix found more than 83 percent of 4,000 respondents think the policy should be reviewed.

"If necessary, the programme should be suspended until a thorough evaluation is carried out," said Egi.

The National Nutrition Agency, tasked with overseeing free meal distribution, did not respond to an AFP request for comment.

The agency has said it will evaluate the scheme and has trained thousands of kitchen staff.

Kitchen partners say they are taking extra precautions too.

"We keep reminding our members to follow food safety protocols," said Sam Hartoto of the Indonesian Catering Entrepreneurs Association, which has 100 members working with the government.

While they seek to provide assurances, the debacles have spooked parents who doubt Prabowo's government can deliver.

"I don't find this programme useful. It poses more risks than benefits," said the mother of the sick girl.

"I don't think this programme is running well."

Q.Bernardi--INP