The Effort to Splitting Nagari Post-Implementation of
Village Law 2014 in West Sumatra, Indonesia
Firdaus Firdaus
STKIP PGRI
firdaus@stkip-pgri-sumbar.ac.id
Keywords: Splitting Nagari, Village Funds, Custom Village.
Abstract: Indonesian government has passed new village law (6/2014). There are two primary issues has been growing
in west Sumatera to response the law, establishing desa adat and accessing village funds. The second issue is
more dominant and triggered splitting nagari effort. This paper analyzes the effort in provincial and regency
level. Data collected throughout document study, interview, public dialogue and focus group discussion in
2016. Data analyzed uses Miles and Huberman approach, data collecting, data verification, data display and
data interpretation. The result showed the splitting nagari triggered village fund distribution system which is
90% divided equally for all villages in Indonesia. In West Sumatera, there is a small number of villages,
therefore the amount of village fund is also low, especially in West Pasaman Regency. There, the government
triggered splitting nagari to get more village fund. In 2017, Pasaman Barat has split nagari from 19 nagaris
to 91 nagaris. The splitting nagari motive is similar with splitting nagari division in 1983, to get more grant
fund from national government. This splitting will also impact on the culture, structure, and values in
Minangkabau as happened before.
1 INTRODUCTION
Based on dictionary of Minangkabau History, Nagari
is the most complete residential unit from residences
metamorphosis after taratak, dusun and koto. It is
also the highest socio-political unit in Minangkabau
(Asnan, 2003). As an institutional, nagari has
territorial and genealogical quality. It is not only a
formal governmental institution with legislative,
executive and judicial elements, but it is also an
institutional custom as the main social unity of
Minangkabau (Shalihin, 2014). Thus, nagari in
Minangkabau is a complex administrative and
cultural entity that governs its society in certain
territorial units.
In the beginning, Nagari governs itself as a small
country autonomously under leadership of 4 pangulus
who was the first to come to the nagari. The
leadership pattern is both collective and democratic
(Tegnan, 2015; Gazalba, 1969). In its journey as a
part of the nation, the nagari in Minangkabau has
dynamics and various changes. The change is in line
with the change of governmental system and policy
in Indonesia. Some major changes on the
Minangkabau structure and culture can be
summarized into three major change periods
(Hadiprayitno, 2014). First is colonial period, the
nagari government was separated by the Dutch into
executive, legislative and judiciary. Kerapatan Adat
Nagari (KAN) authority repealed and Walinagari
election conducted by voting. Walinagari and
members of the Kerapatan Nagari election system
should endorsed and recognized by the Dutch
government (Tegnan, 2015; Shalihin, 2014; Astuti,
2009). Kemal (1964) said, the fundamental change of
nagari at this period is the transformation of
government system from genealogical and territorial
unity to purified in the unity (Jendrius, 2011).
The second is post Village Law No. 5 of 1979.
This law has caused nagari in Minangkabau turned
into village government system in a uniform form.
Even in 1983, nagari in Minangkabau was also split
into several administrative villages. Jorong which
was originally part of nagari changed to village
through Governor's Decree No. 162 / GSB / 1983.
The number of villages in West Sumatera then rise
from 625 to 3,544 nagaris. The main motivation to
splitting nagari into several villages at that time is to
obtain the allocation of development funds (dana
Inpres) (Zed et al., 1998). The implication is local
institutions being marginalized and destroyed (Zed et
al. 1998; Astuti et al., 2009).
Firdaus, F.
The Effort to Splitting Nagar i Post-Implementation of Village Law 2014 in West Sumatra, Indonesia.
In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Sociology Education (ICSE 2017) - Volume 1, pages 371-375
ISBN: 978-989-758-316-2
Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
371
The third is post-regional autonomy under the
Regional Autonomy Law no. 22 of 1999. Post-passed
this law, West Sumatera is the first province to
respond the application of autonomy system by
ratifying Regional Regulation (Peraturan Daerah/
Perda) No. 09 of 2000 on The Basic of Nagari
Government. Village government system returned to
nagari government system. All previous villages
were Jorong, returned to Jorong as part of the nagari
structure. The transition did not go smoothly and
many new problems in the nagari government
emerged (Isra, 2014). The problems is conflict of
ulayat, conflict of power, and issue of local persons
(Benda-Beckmann and Benda-Beckmann, 2001).
Shalihin even said the Minangkabau still not bright
after the regional autonomy (Shalihin, 2014).
Nowadays, post-village law 2014 passed, it raises
two main discourses in West Sumatera. The first is
establishment of adat villages and the second is
allocation of village funds. Both of the discourses
have been discussed by Vel and Bedner through
compare the transformation of nagari in West
Sumatera and local politics in Sumba, West Nusa
Tenggara (NTB). They also discussed the allocation
of funds and the establishment of desa adat (village
custom) at last (Vel and Bedner, 2015). However,
there is no discussion about splitting village effort
after the Village Law 2014 in West Sumatera. Even
though, this is one of some important implication of
this law in West Sumatera refers to the dynamic trend
of the government system in Minangkabau which
always changes every time policy changed. It is
important because law-product is one of the a strategy
to change in Indonesia (Vel et al., 2017). This paper
will discuss the effort to splitting nagari in West
Sumatera in general and in Pasaman Barat district as
a case.
2 METHODS
This article based on qualitative research to capturing
and understanding the dynamic of West Sumatera
people and government to response the Village Law
2014. Data collected through study document (mass
media news), public dialogue (discussion and
socialization forums of the village law), and Focus
Group Discussion with one of the nagari government
in Pasaman Barat regency. Data analyzed uses data
collecting, data verification, data display and data
interpretation (Miles and Huberman, 1992). The steps
conducted accordance to article writing needs.
Therefore, data analysis follows the flow, logic and
systematic of writing in the term of narrative
descriptive.
3 RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Republic of Indonesia government has passed the
Law No. 6 Year 2014 on Village. This law has
become primary reference in village governance
throughout Indonesia. In this law “desa (village),
desa adat (customary village), and other terms are
the unity of legal community which has a territorial
boundary for governing and administering
government affairs, the local community interest
community initiatives, original rights, and/or
traditional right that recognized and respected in
government system of Republic Indonesia”. Base on
this law, the district government may establish an
adat village or other term with the requirements a).
The unity of indigenous peoples and their traditional
rights are still alive; b). The unity of indigenous
peoples with their traditional rights is seen in
accordance with the development of society; and c).
The unity of indigenous peoples and their traditional
rights should in accordance with the principle of the
unitary state of Republic of Indonesia. Base on this
law, the authorities to forming desa adat are the
government at the regency level. The provincial
government has no authority in establishing desa
adat. However, the government of West Sumatera
provincial is finalizing the customary village law
legislation through a draft local regulation on nagari.
The regulation draft has been discussed since early
2016. The draft is a revision to existing nagari rules.
However, until now the draft regulation is still in the
evaluation process and has not been ratified yet.
In addition to the issue of desa adat building, the
more important issues from this village law 2014 is
the village funds that allocated from state budget
(APBN) to villages directly. In the Village Law 2014,
the villages law allocation is distributing base on
population, poverty, geographical area, and
geographical difficulty in a village. However,
technically the allocation of village funds is regulated
under government regulation (PP) number 22 of
2015. The PP regulated the 90% of village funds
distributed equally to all villages in Indonesia. And
only 10% of village fund distribute base on
population, poverty, geographical area, and
geographical difficulty. It is causing the village fund
allocation received more attention in West Sumatra.
The discussion of village fund allocation is more
specific about the amount of village fund gained by
village and nagari through the allocation mechanism.
ICSE 2017 - 2nd International Conference on Sociology Education
372
Then, the calculations triggered the discourse and
movement to splitting nagari.
3.1 Splitting Nagari Effort in West
Sumatera
The total allocation of village funds in West Sumatera
in 2016 is Rp 598,637,609,000.00 for 880 nagaris
and villages in 14 regencies. The village funds
obtained by West Sumatera province is the least in
comparison with other provinces in Sumatera. In fact,
the West Sumatera population is the second largest in
Sumatera after North Sumatera. In compared with
Aceh for example, the amount of village funds in
West Sumatera is much lower. Aceh with 4,906,835
residents in 5,677,081 Ha areas (BPS Aceh 2015)
received village fund allocation Rp
3,829,751,986,000.00 for 6,474 villages in 23
regencies. This amount is more than West Sumatera
amount with 5.196.289 population in 4.220,000 Ha
area (BPS Sumbar 2016).
The striking comparison of village funds amount
makes the discourse of splitting nagari in West
Sumatera strengthened at provincial level. Governor
and Deputy Governor of West Sumatera has
instructed regencies and cities government to do the
splitting of nagari. Although they said the purpose is
to accelerate development and facilitate services, the
real purpose is to get more village funding
allocations. It seen from the governor statement:
“Total penduduk Sumbar mencapai 5 juta jiwa,
sementara dana desa yang diterima hanya
kisaran Rp 700 miliar. Sedangkan provinsi Aceh
dan Bengkulu yang jumlah penduduknya lebih
sedikit, menerima dana desa mencapai Rp 5
triliun lebih.” (The total population of West
Sumatra reached 5 million people, while the
village funds received only range of Rp 700
billion. Aceh and Bengkulu with have fewer
population, received village funds reach more
than Rp 5 trillion.) (Padek Newspaper, 3 April
2017)
Although it does not necessary to split nagari to
obtain more village funds specifically, but on various
occasions, the governor encourages to splitting the
nagari in order to gain more village funds. If this is
true, then the splitting nagari motive post-village law
2014 is no different from the reason to made jorong
into villages in 1983, to access more presidential
funds (Zed et al., 1998). The calculation is based on
the government regulation which is just equally
divided based on the number of villages in Indonesia.
Thus, if there is greater number of villages in a
province, there is more allocation of village funds
(see table 1).
Table 1: The allocation of the village funds in West Sumatera in 2016 (in thousand rupiah).
No
Regencie/Cities
Number
of
Villages
Basic Allocation
Allocation
Formula
Amount
Per Village
1
2
3
4
6
7 = (5+6)
1
West Sumatera Provice
880
565.640
100.874.409
598.637.609
1
Kab. Lima Puluh Kota
79
565.640
8.594.530
53.280.090
2
Kab. Agam
82
565.640
9.183.967
55.566.447
3
Kab. Kepulauan Mentawai
43
565.640
9.258.478
33.580.998
4
Kab. Padang Pariaman
60
565.640
8.331.145
42.269.545
5
Kab. Pasaman
32
565.640
7.450.744
25.551.224
6
Kab. Pesisir Selatan
182
565.640
10.019.210
112.965.690
7
Kab. Sijunjung
61
565.640
6.173.713
40.677.753
8
Kab. Solok
74
565.640
8.363.568
50.220.928
9
Kab. Tanah Datar
75
565.640
6.576.837
48.999.837
10
Kota. Sawahlunto
27
565.640
3.124.031
18.396.311
11
Kota. Pariaman
55
565.640
3.314.875
34.425.075
12
Kab. Pasaman Barat
19
565.640
8.869.950
19.617.110
13
Kab. Dharmasraya
52
565.640
5.944.035
35.357.315
14
Kab. Solok Selatan
39
565.640
5.669.326
27.729.289
Source: Allocation of Village Fund 2016
The government encouragement to splitting
nagari appear two opposing views that represented by
community leaders. The first group is not agreed with
the splitting nagari, and the second is agreed. The
first group based their view to past experiences in
splitting the nagari into several villages in 1983 from
The Effort to Splitting Nagari Post-Implementation of Village Law 2014 in West Sumatra, Indonesia
373
many studies that showed the splitting nagari impact.
Minangkabau was destructed of cultural values
caused by the destruction of the original structure
social structure of nagari (Zed et al., 1998; Astuti,
2009; Benda-Beckmann and Benda-Beckmann,
2001; Zakaria, 2000). The second based their view on
pragmatic purpose, to get more village funds if the
nagari were splitting. Although, there are two
different views on the splitting nagari discourse, the
provincial government still encourages the regency
government to splitting nagari.
3.2 Spliting Nagari Effort in Pasaman
Barat Regency
West Pasaman Regency is the new regency from the
division of Pasaman district based on Law No. 38 of
2003. This district was inaugurated on January 7
th
2004 in Jakarta by the Minister of Home Affairs along
with 24 other districts in Indonesia. January 7
th
was
declared as the birthday of West Pasaman Regency.
This regency has only 19 nagaris spread over an area
of 3,887.77 km2 (BPS Pasaman Barat 2016). The
territory of nagari in West Pasaman is very wide,
even 5 nagaris territory are equal with the district
territory. With such administrative conditions, the
geographical conditions of the nagari in West
Pasaman are very diverse.
The government of West Pasaman previously
allocated the funds of 1 billion per nagari per year.
This program has been carried out since 2011 and
known as the “Nagari satu Miliar” (one billion of
nagari). In this program, the Government allocated
budget in the form of Nagari Funds Allocation
(Alokasi Dana Nagari/ADN) named as Satu Miliar
per Nagari (SMpN) (One Billion per Nagari). The
fund totally handed nagari government under
Regulation of Pasaman Barat Regency No. 4 of 2011
on General Guidelines for the Management of the
Fund Allocation of Nagari (ADN) of Pasaman Barat
Regency. ADN SMpN Program provides financing
facilities for Micro, Small, and Medium Business
(UMKM) through capital provision to spur people’s
economic growth and for economic enterprises of
young people who are members of the youth
organization. The program also encourages for
infrastructure program by involving community
empowerment (Haryadi, 2014).
The program end in 2015 and replaced by the
village fund allocation program based on the 2014
Village Law. Base on the scheme of village fund,
Pasaman Barat Regency obtain little village fund. In
2016, the average nagari only gets Rp. 565,640,000
(see table 1). This amount is only a half of the ADN
SMpN program amount. Of course, for the nagari in
West Pasaman, this is too small compared to area and
the number of residents. Based on this situation the
splitting nagari emerged from the nagari
stakeholders. The desire for splitting nagari from
both the government and the nagari apparatus was
driven by the village fund obtained. They encourage
to splitting nagari to obtain a larger allocation from
village funds. They compare the allocation of village
funding in West Pasaman with the Pesisir Selatan
regency. Pesisir Selatan with 182 nagaris get the
village fund amount Rp. 112.965.690.000, while
Pasaman Barat is only able to earn Rp.
19,617,110,000 because it only has 19 nagaris.
The splitting nagari in West Pasaman was paid
off. West Pasaman previously consisted of 19
nagaris, now has 72 new villages after the splitting,
West Pasaman has 91 nagaris in total. The temporary
walinagari of all new nagaries has been inaugurated
on May 26
th
, 2017. Each of those 72 preparatory
nagaris should set the nagari structure immediately to
be a definitive nagari. This new nagaris will
evaluated within a maximum of 3 years. If the
preparatory nagari meets the requirements, they
would be submitted to obtain the village register
under the Ministry of Home Affairs and be the
definitive nagari. Then, the nagari will receive the
village fund allocations. The process and steps of
establishing new nagari in Pasaman Barat showed the
dominant factor is to obtain a larger village fund,
although the Regent of Pasaman Barat stated that
splitting nagari is to bring closer and facilitate service
to the community. This process is conequences of the
decentralization system in Indonesia after the “new
order” where authority is in the local government
(Antlöv, 2003).
4 CONCLUSION
The Village Law as a whole is not only about
customary villages and village funds.
Philosophically, the spirit of this law is to
accommodate the existing diversity and plurality of
traditional law and traditional values in Indonesia into
the governance system. this law expected to be an
umbrella of the juridical foundation to accelerate
development in Indonesia from the edge. Thus, the
village law regulates the village, custom village,
village fund, village enterprise, village apparatus, and
so on. Unfortunately, West Sumatra governments
only saw the village law as desa adat and village
fund. The last is gets more attention. The implication
is the return of West Sumatra to the paradigm of
ICSE 2017 - 2nd International Conference on Sociology Education
374
centralized government in the new order. At this time,
local government only oriented to the acquisition of
funds from the central government. The local
governments have neglected the development of
nagari based on social and cultural values has been
running as the democratic system and built their own
autonomous territory. At last, it will make West
Sumatra into the same problem and repeat the same
mistake (Hadler 2010).
For the future, the Government of West Sumatra
should consider another aspect of village law 2014
spirit rather than village funds. Nagari have social
and cultural values that can be developed to build
villages in accordance with the Village Law 2014.
Furthermore, at the national level a 90% equitable
allocation of village funding policies for all villages
in Indonesia should be evaluated. Based on past
experience, Inpres (Presidential Instruction) funds
not only damage the cultural system of nagari, but
also other indigenous villages in Indonesia such as
Golo in NTT, Gampong in Aceh, Lembang in Central
Sulawesi and others. This is important to anticipate
the destruction of nagari and other names in
Indonesia due to the factor of the village fund.
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