The main reasons for the collapse of sasi in both Tuhaha and Hulaliu were political problems,
lack of trust among village leaders, and the subsequent withdrawal of the kewang. The practical
execution of sasi was abolished, but sasi remained part of the village ideology. The process of
revitalization builds on this cultural base and re-establishment means re-installation of the
traditional authorities and re-activation of collective-choice and operational rules. Kewang
members have to be chosen and inaugurated, tasks delegated between the formal and
traditional authorities, and operational rules designed. To be successful, the proponents of
sasi renewal will have to pay attention to history and be careful to avoid past practices that
led to breakdown.
In recent years local NGOs, such as Yayasan Hualopu, have been working in the Lease Islands.
They provide villagers with information on sustainable fisheries development and encourage
local leaders to embark on the management of village territorial waters. Yayasan Hualopu,
for example, is currently engaged in a program of mapping village marine territories and
facilitating the development of local management plans. Here, they hope to capitalize on the
basis that sasi provides by encouraging the re-installation of kewangs and the revival of the
island-level institutions (latupati) with an emphasis on conflict resolution and management
planning. In this work, they are supported by a number of academics from Ambon-based
universities, some Fisheries Agency staff, and others from the government research institute
LIPI, based in Ambon. Legal experts affiliated with both Pattimura University and the
government planning office (BAPPEDA) are also involved. The general plan is to promote
development of a new law at the provincial level (Perda or Peraturan Daerah) which will give
legal recognition to the right of villages to enter into marine resource management and erect
kewang-style management organizations. The aim of these supporters of sasi is clearly resource
management and conservation.
Thus, in the process of revitalization, there are three streams of thought that must be reconciled:
the wish of the village fishers to preserve adat culture and share in the benefits from fisheries
resources while protecting their territories from outsiders; the desire of local governments to
extract resource rents; and the push by academics, environmentalists and managers to develop
viable local fisheries conservation and management.
17.7 Synthesis
As can be concluded from the inventory, before the 1970s, a large number of villages lost sasi
due to post-World War II social, administrative and economic change, internal village conflicts
and other reasons that were difficult to trace. The more recent breakdown of sasi has occurred
in two distinct periods and villagers are able to articulate reasons for decline in their village.
The 1970s witnessed the introduction of the new formal government structure; it was a period
of decline for sasi. This decade was one of rapid economic growth, poverty alleviation programs
in the villages, and social change. A fundamental factor in the loss of sasi was confusion or
conflict in the village or between village authorities, which undermined the legitimacy of the
village leader or the institution itself. Political instability and/or a dysfunctional kewang invited
non-compliance and led to the abandonment of operational rules. Sasi being taken over by
the church, either because of such conflicts or in an attempt to improve compliance, was a
common scenario. The church, interested only in land sasi on coconuts, did not get involved
in marine sasi, which in some cases then declined.
Institutional Resilience : Loss and Revival of Sasi 255