his government office may, therefore, be many
kilometers away. Dusuns are represented in the desa
government through their local leaders (kepala dusun).
Through the issuing of Law No. 5, 1974, provincial
government structures throughout Indonesia were
redesigned following the above national model. The
same was done for village governments under Law No.
5, 1979. In the implementation of the latter law,
traditional political structures in the villages were
abolished. The country was thereby divided into uniform
hierarchical units which, at a local level, reflected social
structures in Java, but did not accommodate the
traditional structures in other parts of the country. The
new, uniform structures would, in theory, encourage
similar development of the outer regions of Indonesia.
Figure 4.1. (Photo) The village
government structure at Tuhaha.
Through the 1979 law, the hereditary raja was replaced by
an elected village head, the kepala desa. Smaller villages
lost their independent status and became dusuns of larger
desas. The village councils were replaced by bodies known
as the LMD and LKMD (see below). There was no place
in the new structure for the kewang, nor was any
replacement developed to take over the function of resource management. The clan system also
became dysfunctional when, instead of being divided along clan lines, the village territory was
geographically divided into dusuns (hamlets). Dusuns were further divided into RWs (rukun warga:
rukun is a harmonious unit, warga is a society member), and subsequently into RTs (rukun tetangga:
tetangga is neighbor). The RT is the smallest political unit in the village (see Figure 4.1). A small
village like Nolloth, for example, with approximately 2,500 inhabitants, has 16 RTs.
The LMD (Lembaga Masyarakat Desa) is the formal village legislative body occupied with
decision-making and the development of regulations. It has 10 to 15 members presided over
by the village head and the village secretary and is divided into sections, i.e., village
development, government administration and community affairs, each of which has a chief.
The LMD reports to the sub-district government level. The decisions and regulations of the
LMD are executed by the LKMD, which is the administrative body of the village government.
At village meetings, the LKMD members and other government officials make the decisions.
The women sit behind the men and are not involved.
Officially, the villagers elect the LMD members, but as we found out from our interviews, in
many cases LMD members are selected from among traditional authorities (i.e., adat and clan
leaders). Only in a few villages are “commoners” allowed into the LMD. Thus, membership
is more likely to be defined by descent and traditional authority than by local elections. The
extent to which the current government overlaps with the previous, traditional village council
varies, but there was no village where traditional authorities were not represented at all.
Heads of the dusun are usually appointed by the village head (kepala desa) and are acknowledged
through a decree from the sub-district office. The dusun level has no LMD of its own, but dusun
representatives hold positions in the LMD of the desa. The dusun head supervises and coordinates
social organizations and carries out the development programs for the dusun. People are not formally
consulted about these programs, so the dusun head has to know the village priorities very well.
38 An Institutional Analysis of Sasi Laut in Maluku, Indonesia