DistantNews
Support us
🇮🇩 Indonesia /Disasters & Emergencies

BGN Chief Denies Forcing Students to Collect Free Meals During Wildfire School Closures

From CNN Indonesia · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire Named sources Ongoing story
  • National Nutrition Agency chief Sudaryono said the free nutritious meals program did not force students or parents in wildfire-affected areas to collect meals after schools closed.
  • He said local authorities decide whether schools operate, and meal distribution follows those decisions, although food already prepared may need to be collected that day.
  • The Forestry Ministry is monitoring hotspots, smoke, air quality and visibility because wildfires can disrupt transport, economic activity and aviation safety.

Indonesia’s National Nutrition Agency chief Sudaryono rejected claims that students or their parents were forced to collect free meals while schools in wildfire-affected areas were closed.

He said some kitchens had already bought and prepared ingredients when local authorities announced school closures. In those cases, the food still had to be cooked and collected that day, because it would not be distributed the following day.

Sudaryono said the free nutritious meals program follows announcements from provincial and local governments. Governors oversee decisions for senior high schools, while regents and mayors handle elementary and junior high schools. If schools close, meal distribution follows the closure, he said.

We have never forced the program to continue because of free meals when wildfires have closed schools.

· SudaryonoThe National Nutrition Agency chief explained that meal distribution follows local school-closure decisions.

The Forestry Ministry is separately monitoring the effects of forest and land fires on economic activity, particularly air transport. Its monitoring covers hotspots, fire conditions, air quality, smoke distribution, weather and visibility.

Ministry spokesman Ristianto Pribadi said smoke can affect people’s mobility, economic activity and flight safety. Conditions can vary between areas and change quickly depending on smoke concentration, wind, rainfall and other atmospheric factors. The ministry is publishing updates through official channels and the SiPongi system, while urging air travelers to follow information from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency, airport authorities, AirNav Indonesia and airlines.

We understand that smoke disruption has the potential to affect people’s mobility, economic activity and flight safety.

· Ristianto PribadiThe Forestry Ministry spokesman described the effects being monitored during the fires.
About this summary

Originally published by CNN Indonesia in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog