“We are prioritizing Papua, East Nusa Tenggara, Nias, Maluku, North Maluku, and other remote regions because their residents are in great need of MBG,” he said on Aug. 6 in Jakarta.Of nearly 30,000 SPPGs across Indonesia, 13 units are up and running in Highland Papua, with five located in the capital, Jayawijaya District. Each MBG kitchen in the province serves between 3,500 and 7,000 beneficiaries.BGN Regional Coordinator for Highland Papua Wahyu Adi Pratama said program implementation has followed agency guidelines, covering not only schoolchildren but also pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and toddlers.Extending MBG to mothers and under-five children is considered a strategic move to curb childhood stunting, a form of chronic malnutrition that hinders growth. This approach is particularly urgent in hard-to-reach regions like Highland Papua.Exercising its oversight function for MBG, the House of Representatives (DPR) has sent parliamentarians to regions nationwide both to articulate the program’s objectives and keep implementation in check.Yan Permenas Mandenas, a legislator on Commission XIII, was among those assigned to the field. He traveled from Jakarta to Highland Papua to see the MBG program firsthand.During his visit, he toured several schools in Jayawijaya, listening to teachers and students and learning how the meals were becoming part of their daily routines.The lawmaker also inspected cooking and distribution processes at a local SPPG. Editor: M Razi RahmanCopyright © ANTARA 2026