Dutch in the Pattimura Battle in 1817.” He explained further that during the Dutch colonial period,
the people were forced to come down to the shore. The Sasabone clan followed the orders and the
clan leader became the regent for the Dutch. The Aipassas, however, refused to come down. They
split into two groups; one went to Seram and the other remained on Saparua. From the hills, they
fought the Dutch. The clan later moved down to what is now Tuhaha.
With 2,022 inhabitants, Tuhaha is a middle-sized village. The 417 households have an average
size of five persons each. Only 10% of the predominantly Christian village is Islamic. These
Islamic Butonese, however, are 3rd generation inhabitants. There is no recent in-migration.
Except for 40 households that took part in a transmigration program and moved to Seram in
the 1970s, Tuhaha has no history of significant out-migration. Some 25 young people leave
the village each year. There is no tourism in the village.
Tuhaha has a health center (PUSKESMAS). There are two primary schools and a junior high
school in Tuhaha. The general education level, however, is relatively high with 700 people
having attended elementary school, 150 junior high school, and 150 senior high school (data
from 1993). The village has electricity and some people have TVs. The village also has a fresh
water pipeline system and septic tanks to contain household wastes.
The transportation links to Tuhaha are good. There are frequent minibuses and the village
has a hard top road. There are seven motorcycles and five public transport buses in the village.
The communication links are minimal. The village only has a walky-talky system and for
communication, relies primarily on the mail.
Employment
Most villagers combine fishing and farming. However, Tuhaha has a relatively small forest-
garden area and farming is apparently no alternative for the growing population. This may
explain the significant increase in the numbers of fishers from 49 registered in 1993 to more
than 200 in 1997.
There are two small active home industries. The number of shopkeepers, laborers and government
employees has increased since 1979. As of 1998, there are over 50 government staff in Tuhaha.
12.2.1 Village government
For village administration and physical development, the Tuhaha village government receives
an annual subsidy of Rp6 million (± USD2,100, 1997 rate) from the district level. Additionally,
they receive Rp1.5 million for the PKK women’s organization. The village revenues are used
for development projects e.g., a pier in the harbor, a fresh water supply, and a fence project.
For these projects, the money from the auctioned area is also used. The village government
bears the actual costs while the villagers provide the labor.
Over the last 20 years, the village government has experienced periods of political instability
due to, amongst other causes, conflicts between the village headman and traditional
authorities. In the 1970s, Sahusilawani implemented the new government structure. The
traditional leaders were included in the formal village government (LMD), but their authority
based on adat was not acknowledged. The tuan negeri, Max Aipassa, however, insisted that
his traditional position (and, therewith, adat law) be formally acknowledged and in the
meantime, refused to accept his formal position in the LMD. This conflict is one reason why
the LMD has been dysfunctional over the last years.
144 An Institutional Analysis of Sasi Laut in Maluku, Indonesia