More than 1,700 Indonesian students and teachers sickened this week due to free meals programme
More than 1,700 Indonesian students and teachers have fallen ill due to a free meals programme launched by President Prabowo Subianto last year, according to a school principal in LASEM, Central Java. The total number of people affected by the food poisoning scheme has reached more than 1,700 in just one week. In separate incidents across three other locations, 950 Indonesians contracted food poisoning linked to the programme.
President Subianto's costly initiative, aimed at improving nutrition for tens of millions of children, has been marred by allegations of corruption, leadership changes, and multiple outbreaks of food poisoning. In a senior high school in Lasem, 752 students and 25 teachers suffered from diarrhoea and vomiting after consuming free meals, with the slimy chicken identified as the culprit.
Local doctor Joko Paryanto reported that 15 of the victims required hospitalization. On Tuesday, 664 students fell ill in Sidoarjo, East Java, while two other cases on Wednesday affected 49 people in Nganjuk and 237 in Agam, West Sumatra. The National Nutrition Agency overseeing the $12.94 billion programme has suspended the kitchen linked to the Sidoarjo case.
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