Indonesian free meals operators protest moratorium on new kitchens

Thousands of Indonesian free meals kitchens complained on Tuesday that they had been left in the lurch by the government's move to scale down President Prabowo Subianto's flagship free meals programme to ​save money.

Reuters previously reported that Jakarta was considering a potential budget cut of ‌more than $2 billion with reductions in the number of beneficiaries and kitchen operators.

There are currently nearly 28,000 kitchens, and the National Nutrition Agency plans to temporarily halt the addition of 13,000 new kitchens as ​part of a series of efficiency measures.

During a hearing in parliament, three associations of ​kitchen operators told the committee overseeing the programme their members had already ⁠invested in their kitchens and secured operating permits, but could not begin operations because ​of the moratorium.

"It is the NNA who asked us to build kitchens, they approved the permits ​but then our kitchens could not operate ... We hope to be supported not to be destroyed," said Yusuf Supriadi from the Kitchen Partners Associations.

The associations said they would consider taking legal action against the ​NNA if their money was not returned or their kitchens could not operate.

Operators fund the ​setup of the kitchens including buildings, equipment, and workers and aim to recover their investment once the ‌kitchen ⁠starts operating with regular payments from the NNA for the meals they produce.

They use the money left after paying for ingredients, salaries, and logistics to clear the initial investment.

Herwil Junaidi Harefa, who heads the Food and Nutrition Association for Remote, Frontier and Outlying Areas, said each ​of his members ​spent at least 1.5 ⁠billion rupiah ($82,965) to build one kitchen, and had to take bank loans or sell assets to fund it.

He added that they had ​declined the NNA's initial request to build the kitchens because of the ​logistical challenge ⁠of construction in remote areas.

"We only want our money back if our kitchens cannot operate," he said, adding that ideally, those kitchens that already had permits should be allowed to proceed.

Harefa ⁠said 1,200 ​kitchens in remote areas were ready to operate but ​were unable to do so due to the moratorium.

Irma Suryani, one of the lawmakers, said the committee would convey ​the operators' concerns to the NNA.

-Reuters