Jejak Online

Newsletter LEAD Cohort 9

PRACTISING LOCAL INITIATIVES

Joko Roesmanto, Indonesia Sugar Research Institute

Until the end of the '90s, top-down planning in project implementation that did not 'put the last first' was common in Indonesia. Top-down planning became popular in the early '70s, and, I believe, such planning was only applied from the viewpoint of economic growth without regard to income distribution. This in the long run, may have ensured continuous development but did not necessarily consider sustainable development. These days, however, top-down planning and project implementation should be reviewed in line with the development of actual methods of community development.

In many aspects, project implementation which is based on top-down planning often results in the introduction of particular innovations that are not quite appropriate or acceptable because they are imitations of conditions which may not be locally suitable or acceptable. For instance, a project on public sanitation, like the provision of public water closets, might be short-lived and the project go to waste in the sense that the water closets would remain unused because the planning had not taken into consideration the local community's initiative of indicating where the closets should be built. The more lasting educational aspect of making people aware that for the sake of health and sanitation, they should avoid using the river as toilets would be more important than just providing a sanitary facility.

In relation to this article, I would like to share my experience as head of the Rukun Tetangga (RT), the smallest unit of community consisting of approximately twenty families. Then I will elaborate on the community's response towards a project called 'The Motor Cycle Race', which was to be held on a main road near by the RT.

In early May, 2001, there was a proposal to conduct a motorcycle road race organized by a group of students in cooperation with a youth organization which had some connections to a dominant mass organization in East Java. The organizing committee wanted their project to go on without first getting the opinion of the RT who lives near the road where the race was to be held.

In the past, such a decision-making process would probably get no direct resentment from the RT especially since it was already accepted by the head of the Rukun Warga (RW). In this case, however, the Lurah did not really approve of this mechanism because the community living by that road had not been asked their opinion.

I was suddenly called for a special meeting with the Lurah and the head of the RW regarding this issue. The RW asked me whether I agreed to the racing project to which I replied that we had never been asked from the very beginning. I mentioned that a similar project had been carried out at another location of the town which might have inspired the organizing committee to do the same thing. I said that the community's opinion on this project was important.

Two factors held my attention on this case. Firstly, the nature of the project was such that it seemed to be forced on the community and worked out in such a way that the community had to accept. This method, I felt, would most likely lead to the rejection of the project. While the race on the one hand, might have been a valid one that would encourage young people 's racing talents, the use of the main road for this purpose would have been an imposition and a public inconvenience because the road connects four provinces and much of the economic activity of these provinces relies on this road.

A suggestion was made to reroute traffic. This, however, was easier said than done since the other roads were not in very good condition. In addition, the racing activity would also cause other disturbing factors to the communities near-by such as pollution, noise, lack of security and disturbance to privacy. It did not seem that the organizing committee had considered this since it was not stated in their proposal.

Secondly, this project had neglected to consider the community that lived by the main road and their right to an opinion. Such an oversight is typical of top-down planning. Considering local initiative means looking into the needs of the community in relation to the racing project. As the head of the RT, I tried to identify the community's concerns. I asked all the families and it was clear they did not want the race to take place. They did care for the pollution that such a race was certain to bring about.

What they wanted instead was that their concern for security and their sense of privacy would remain intact. The 'local initiative' did not see any benefit in the racing project. Signatures of all families were then provided to the Lurah and RW. The Lurah wrote a letter to the Mayor saying that the community living by the road was against the race, implying that the race would have to be relocated to some other place.

The problem, however, did not end there and in fact, has not been resolved as yet. The organizing committee claims that its principal permission came from the Mayor, the Road Authority and the police officers. They argued that the community's rejection of the project had been encouraged by the community leaders. The situation led to conflict between the local community and the organizing committee. How then could this deadlock be resolved?

According to microeconomic theory, the problem would be best approached through lobbying, or other non-economics solution methods. What happened then was, that the organizing committee lobbied a key person to give his permission. This person then promised that the racing would be carefully reconsidered and finally permitted to go on, however, using another segment of the same road. It is my opinion that this is still an enforcing-power-type of solution most likely supported by those who will benefit from the racing project. Since the community is still being forced to accept the project, it is not a sustainable one. Even if the project includes a social facility factor like public sanitation, there would still be no sense of belonging on the part of the community.

Up to the time this article was written, the race has not yet taken place, probably due to the riots and social unrest which unfortunately took place in our town, Pasuruan, East Java.