IJPSD

ISSN: 2360-784X

 International Journal of Political Science and Development
 

International Journal of Political Science and Development

Vol. 8(6), pp. 244-251, June, 2020. 

DOI: 10.14662/IJPSD2020.150

ISSN: 2360-784X

Review

Community’s Participation in the Determination of Customary Land Rights in Singingi River Basin

Adlin ¹, Ali Yusri ², Tito Handoko³

¹Goverment Studies, Universitas Riau

Email : adlin@lecturer.unri.ac.id

²Goverment Studies, Universitas Riau

Email : ali.yusri@lecturer.unri.ac.id

³Goverment Studies,  Universitas Riau

Corresponding author’s Email : tito.handoko@lecturer.unri.ac.id

Accepted 26 June 2020

This research aimed to uncover the issue of low community participation in, and regional government commitment to, the determination of customary land rights in Singingi river basin through regional regulations as mandated by Resolution of the Constitutional Court No. 35 of 2015. The researchers employed a qualitative approach through interviews with customary land owners, Kuantan Singingi Regency government apparatus, and a Riau Malay Customary Institution representative in Singingi and Singingi Hilir Districts. The results indicate several barriers on the part of the community to participation in policy-making regarding customary land: community’s apathy; community’s lack of knowledge and understanding; strong, deeply-rooted paternalism; lack of reward (follow-up) for community’s participation; community’s low sense of responsibility; community’s unawareness of the mechanism of expressing aspirations; community’s limited access to information; and lack of support from community elements which were supposed to empower the community, such as, non-governmental organizations and mass media outlets. Meanwhile, some barriers also originated on the bureaucracy’s part: no public space allowed by the existing bureaucratic system; the bureaucracy’s inclination to refuse community’s participation on account of high cost involvement; and the bureaucracy’s poor understanding of fundamental meaning of participation.

Keywords: participation, community, bureaucracy