Jakarta – The government through the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) has taken firm steps to improve the supervision and funding system for the Free Nutritious Food (MBG) program. This was done following the incident that occurred in Kalibata, which became an important note in strengthening partnership governance and program fund distribution.
The Head of BGN, Dadan Hindayana, stated that every incident like this is important input in perfecting the system.
“Every time there is an incident, it will improve the National Nutrition Agency’s supervision pattern,” he said.
As a mitigation step, BGN now requires all foundations that register through the mitra.bgn.go.id platform to clearly state their partnership relationship with the facility owner. This step was taken to prevent internal conflicts that could potentially disrupt services to the public.
“We thought that the facility owner had their own foundation, but apparently there are also many foundations that then partner with the facility owner,” explained Dadan.
Not only that, BGN is also reforming the funding mechanism by implementing a virtual account (VA) system starting this week. This new pattern is designed to increase transparency and accountability. Dadan said,
“Starting this week, from the 14th onwards, the Nutrition Agency will change the funding pattern. So partners no longer need to spend money to run the entire program. But the Nutrition Agency will send the money for the next 10 days.”
The VA used is a joint account between the Head of the Nutrition Service Management Unit (SPPG) and the partner foundation. This system ensures that funds can only be disbursed if they have been verified by both parties.
“Even if money comes into the foundation, then the head of the unit cannot verify it, the money cannot be taken by the foundation,” said Dadan.
BGN has also completed all MBG program bills for the previous period between April 8 and 14 as a form of accountability for payment obligations. These steps are expected to strengthen public trust in the MBG program and minimize the potential for misuse of funds.
With this improvement in the monitoring and funding system, BGN confirms its commitment to ensuring that the nutrition fulfillment program runs transparently, accountably, and on target. []
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