Author : Yulius

Summary : Generally, the study sought to find out the extent of the government assistance to the farmers' participation in the maintenance and repair of the irrigation system, particularly the traditional irrigation. Specifically, it aims to: 1) determine the extent of the community participation in the government-assisted project, particularly the traditional irrigation; 2) identify the factors which enhance the community to participate; 3) determine the relationship between government assistance and community participation; and 4) find out the strengths and weaknesses of the process in implementing community participation in government-assisted traditional irrigation system. The study was conducted at Kota Agung, Lahat district, South Sumatera, about 300 km from Palembang, Indonesia. The village (desa) in which the study was conducted is called Tanjung Kurung. The population in 1993 was 462 persons in 94 households. All the inhabitants are Moslems. The case study method was used in the study. Random sampling was used in the selection of farmer-respondents. Out of 94 farmer-cooperators in the list, 30 farmers were randomly selected as respondents of the study. The findings showed that income, family size, water need and attitude have positive effect on community participation, but distance has a negative effect. There is a positive correlation between government-assisted traditional irrigation system and community participation. Among the strengths of the project were: 1) the government was able to save money because it only provided materials for the project; 2) it motivated the community to work together; 3) the community acquired some knowledge about the project; and 4) a sense of community belonging was developed to the tradtional irrigation because they were deeply involved since the project was first carried out. Among the weaknesses were: 1) the process spent much time because before the program was carried out the government sent a community organizer to find out the problems in the village.