Supporting Health Awareness at School, Pertamina Held Healthy Canteen Training

BALIKPAPAN – Canteen is one of the essential facilities at school. A canteen that serves students’ food and drinks needs to be supported with cleanliness and maintained quality.

As the company’s support, Pertamina through PT Kilang Pertamina Internasional (KPI) Balikpapan Unit cooperate with SD Negeri 006 Balikpapan Kota to hold Pelatihan Kantin Sehat (Healthy Canteen Training) on Saturday, January 29, 2022. This activity is part of the literacy program series of SD Negeri 006 Balikpapan Kota as one of Pertamina CSR Program.

“Even though amid the COVID-19 pandemic, schools have started the offline classes. Students’ activities at school could not be separated from canteens. Therefore, canteens has always been essential,” said Area Manager Communication, Relations & CSR KPI Unit Balikpapan, Ely Chandra Peranginangin.

The training was followed by 30 parents, and it is hoped that it could educate parents and the school to become more cautious of the food consumed by students.

“Healthy canteen served healthy, nutritious, and safe foods and drinks. Physically, the supporting facilities and infrastructure must follow the health standard,” said the Environmental Health Officer of Prapatan Community Health Center (Puskesmas), Netty Budi Lestari.

Netty explained that a healthy canteen must be far from the pollution source, such as temporary disposal sites (TPS) and toilets, and has a clean water source. The floor must be easy to clean and free from puddles. The walls and ceiling must cover the whole building. The ventilations must be 20% of the floor area, and the placement must be at least two sides facing each other and has bright lighting.

Besides, a healthy canteen can be indicated by served food coverage (window displayed), a fixed table to cook and serve food, and a place to do the dish with flowing water.

“Food from a canteen must also be nutritious for the students,” explained Netty.

Parents welcomed this activity well. “This program is splendid, especially for school canteens to increase cleanliness,” said one of the student’s parents, Norma Septiawati.

The same thing was stated by the school principal of SDN 006 Balikpapan Kota. “I’m grateful for the support from RU Balikpapan, alhamdulillah the event went well. I hope that SDN 006 Balikpapan Kota have a canteen that meet health standard,” said the school principal of SDN 006 Balikpapan Kota, Yutmiatin.

After this training, in February 2022, SD 006 Balikpapan held a literacy festival with a series of events like food stalls, art performances, and students’ literature exhibitions. *SHR&P BALIKPAPAN