The national flagship program, Free Nutritious Meals (MBG), is facing sharp criticism regarding distribution inequality. Papua, categorized as one of the regions with the highest rates of stunting and malnutrition in Indonesia by the Ministry of Health, reportedly has only one percent of the total nutrition kitchens operating nationwide. This condition stands in stark contrast to Java, the region with the lowest stunting prevalence rate, which dominates with 53 percent of the distribution of nutrition kitchens.
This inequality is clearly visible in Anggreso Village, Mamberamo Raya Regency, Papua. This coastal village along the Mamberamo River basin carries three concerning titles from the government: the poorest, most remote, and having the highest stunting cases. Many children in this region suffer from severe malnutrition, pregnant women give birth without medical assistance, and basic immunization coverage for toddlers remains very minimal.
Grace M. Weya, a nurse who regularly visits the village, shared the severe challenges in handling the residents' health. She cited the case of Petra, a four-year-old child suffering from paralysis and acute malnutrition due to the lack of nutritional intake for his mother during pregnancy. Without specialist doctors and adequate immunization facilities, children in this area rely only on the staple food of sago without sufficient intake of animal protein because of soaring food prices.
The Head of the Mamberamo Raya Regency Health Office, Yohanes Tebai, revealed that health services in his area are in a state of suspended animation. Out of 13 existing health centers (puskesmas), five are inactive, and there is not a single specialist doctor in the region. Tebai noted that Mamberamo Raya has the second-highest stunting prevalence in Papua at 22.65 percent, yet the government's long-term supplementary food assistance program has never been effectively realized.
The construction of supporting infrastructure for MBG in Burmeso, the administrative center of Mamberamo Raya, is also progressing slowly and has stalled. Logistics constraints in shipping materials from outside the island and construction costs swelling from IDR 2.1 billion to IDR 3.5 billion have complicated the situation. The situation is exacerbated by bureaucratic uncertainty following leadership changes at the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), which has left the nutrition kitchen project abandoned.
On the other hand, the local community expressed different preferences regarding the program's mechanism. Several mothers in Papua expressed concerns over the risk of food poisoning and menu incompatibility if food is cooked in public kitchens. They proposed that assistance be provided in the form of cash funds or local food ingredients so they can process it hygienically themselves, while also empowering local commodities such as sago, fish, and sweet potatoes.
Responding to this polemic, health policy observers urged the government to thoroughly evaluate the implementation of the MBG program to focus on regions with the heaviest nutritional burden and vulnerable groups in the first 1,000 days of life. Stunting reduction cannot be resolved simply by distributing uniform boxed meals, but requires a logistical approach and integrated nutritional interventions that respect the geographic characteristics of each region.
