JAKARTA: Indonesia will open thousands of kitchens across the country next year as the incoming government led by president-elect Prabowo Subianto kicks off his multi-billion dollar free meals program, the head of the agency running the initiative said on Tuesday.
Prabowo will be sworn in as Indonesia’s next president on Oct. 20. In the first stage of his plan, meals will be given to around 20 million students from January at a cost of 71 trillion rupiah ($4.54 billion).
When running at full scale, the free meals program, which aims to end malnutrition in the country, will reach 83 million recipients, including pregnant mothers, and cost around $28 billion annually.
Dadan Hindayana, the head of the national nutrition agency, told an investment forum that at least 5,000 kitchens, called ‘service units’, will be set up next year, before ramping up to 30,000 units in 2027.
“The unit will not only operate as a kitchen but also have a role as a buyer for local agriculture products,” Dadan said, adding the units will create over one million new jobs.
The estimated demand for food under this program next year is at 312,000 metric tons of rice, 546,000 metric tons of chicken meat or 4.68 billion eggs, 936 million liters of milk and 546,000 metric tons of vegetables, according to Reuters calculation based on the agency’s data and accounting for six days a week.
Dadan said one kitchen, which would serve 3,000 children, would have a daily consumption of 200 kg of rice, 350 kg of chicken meat or 3,000 eggs, 600 liters of milk and 350 kg vegetables.
The nutrition agency will prioritize sourcing the food from local farmers and also will adjust the menus based on availability, Dadan said.
Indonesia to run thousands of kitchens as free meals initiative starts in January
https://arab.news/cctgc
Indonesia to run thousands of kitchens as free meals initiative starts in January
- President-elect Prabowo Subianto kicks off his multi-billion dollar free meals program
- When running at full scale, the free meals program will reach 83 million recipients
Protests across globe mark one week of Iran war
- In Washington DC, demonstrators gathered at the National Mall carrying US, Israeli and Iranian flags, with some protesters painting the colors of the Iranian flags on their cheeks
- Several counter-protesters carried signs denouncing Israel and in support of the Palestinians
PARIS, France: Lion-emblazoned flags of pre-revolution Iran fluttered in cities across the world on Saturday as demonstrators took to the streets a week after the start of the war in the Middle East.
Europe, Africa and the Americas saw demonstrations, with some protesting against Iran’s Islamic regime, others railing against the war, and some in support of Iran’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the first US-Israeli strikes of the conflict.
Paris saw two demonstrations: one supporting the US-based Reza Pahlavi, the son of the late shah, to head up a transition, and another denouncing that scenario.
“I support Pahlavi who is calling for a revolution,” Masoud Ghanaatian, 35, a student, told AFP at a protest in southern Paris, where participants carried photos of the late shah’s son and waved US, Israeli and pre-revolution Iran flags.
“He’s a democrat. He can oversee a transition and promises to organize elections.”
Hundreds of pro-Pahlavi demonstrations also gathered in Stockholm, holding up pictures of him and his late father.
But farther north, protesters wearing yellow vests reading “Free Iran” showed off stickers on their hands that read “No Shah, no Mullah.”
In Amsterdam protesters snaked along one of the city’s canals, holding up Israeli, American and pre-revolution Iran flags, as they called on the government to invite Pahlavi to the country and to close the Iranian embassy.
In Israel, anti-war activists and police scuffled during a protest against eh war in HaBima Square in Tel Aviv.
Shortly after dawn in Britain, anti-war protesters gathered at the entrance of an air force base in Fairford, southwest of England, holding signs reading “Hands off Iran,” “Peace” and “Yanks go home.”
- ‘Assassins’ -
A demonstrations against the war also took place in Cyprus.
Outside the US consulate in Mexico City, protesters carried a placard with pictures of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with blood-soaked palms over the word “Assassins” and kicked pinatas with images of the two leaders.
In the United States, protesters carried Iranian, Lebanese and Palestinian flags and signs “Iran is not our enemy” and “No war on Iran” in downtown Detroit, Michigan.
In Washington DC, demonstrators gathered at the National Mall carrying US, Israeli and Iranian flags, with some protesters painting the colors of the Iranian flags on their cheeks.
In Boston, Iranian Americans gathered at Copley Square to call for the fall of the Islamic republic.
In South Africa — which has dragged Israel to International Court of Justice, accusing it of genocide during the Gaza war, a charge Israel denies — dozens gathered in front of the US consulate in Johannesburg, holding up photos of Khamenei, the Islamic republic’s flag and signs bashing Israel.
Protesters carried pictures of Khamenei and denounced the war in central Tunis in Tunisia.
In Cape Town, Iranian pro-democracy activists and supporters of Israel waved Israeli flags and chanted slogans in the Albert Waterfront shopping mall.
Several counter-protesters carried signs denouncing Israel and in support of the Palestinians.
