Though it hasn’t exactly gone as planned, Indonesia is on a bold goal to provide 80 million schoolchildren with free meals.
After consuming the meals this week, about 80 pupils from two high schools in Cianjur, which is south of the capital Jakarta, became unwell. The majority of people who were admitted to the hospital have since been released.
This is the most recent in a string of food poisonings connected to the program, which is President Prabowo Subianto’s trademark policy.
The suspected cause, according to the authorities looking into the issue, is careless food preparation. Police said they have questioned those who handle the food, including cooks, packers, and delivery personnel, and samples from the pupils’ vomit have been sent for laboratory testing.
