Young Coconuts for Two Days MBG Makes Public Shaking Their Heads, Jhon Sitorus: This Is Called Harassment to the People

FAJAR.CO.ID, JAKARTA — The Free Nutritious Meal Program (MBG) in Palengaan suddenly made the public shake their heads.

The trigger was the distribution of one young coconut to be consumed for two days to 2,030 students.

Considered Unreasonable for Fulfilling Child Nutrition

Social media activist, Jhon Sitorus, also spoke out. He considers this policy unreasonable from the perspective of fulfilling children’s nutrition.

“One young coconut for two days? This is harassment of the people and the nation’s children,” said Jhon to dawn.co.id, Sunday (15/2/2026).

He questioned the basis for nutritional calculations in this distribution.

“How do you calculate that one coconut is enough to nourish a child for two days?” he continued.

MBG Needs Evaluation

Jhon said that the MBG program actually has good aims. However, its implementation requires a thorough evaluation so as not to cause polemics in society.

“Please, MBG still needs to be evaluated, the president should be angry with incidents like this, not threaten critical people,” he said.

Criticism for MBG is not hatred but concern

He also emphasized that the criticism expressed by the public was not a form of hatred towards the program, but rather a form of concern.

“People criticize MBG not because they hate the program, but because of the actions of MBG employees who insult the MBG program itself,” he added.

Furthermore, he reminded that the program uses the state budget which comes from people’s taxes.

“Moreover, MBG spends most of the education budget coming from people’s taxes. So don’t view this as hatred but as monitoring,” he said.