Abstract:
This study aims to find the problem of weak community participation and the commitment of local
governments in establishing customary rights along the singingi river basin in the form of regional
regulations in accordance with the mandate of the 35th constitutional court ruling in 2015. The
study uses a qualitative approach by interviewing informants from the ancestors of customary land,
the local government of Kuantan Singingi district and Riau Malay Customary institutions in
Singingi and Singingi Hilir sub-districts. The results of the study show that there are inhibiting
factors from the community side in participating in policy making regarding the communal land,
namely the apathy attitude; Lack of Knowledge and Understanding of the Community; Strong and
entrenched Peternalistic culture; There is no reward (follow-up) for community participation;
Poor community responsibility; Community Does not know the mechanism of channeling
aspirations; Limited public access to information; The lack of support from community elements
that should empower the community such as NGOs and mass media. In addition there are also
obstacles from the bureaucratic side, namely: a bureaucratic system that has not given space to the
public, tend to reject community involvement under the pretext of high cost, lack of understanding
of the bureaucrats about the meaning of participation fundamentally
