Kuta Traditional Village Complains of Water Crisis and Damaged Roads, Asking for Government Attention

CIAMIS - In the midst of strong traditions that are still maintained until now, the Kuta Custom Village in Ciamis Regency is still facing a number of fundamental problems. The water crisis, damaged roads, to the lack of ulayat land certificates are the main complaints of the indigenous people who hope to get more serious attention from the government.

This question came up when the General Chair of the West Java Sundanese Custom Assembly, Inspector General of Police (Ret.) Anton Charliyan, conducted a field visit and survey to Kuta Custom Village, Gunuang Omeh District, Thursday (18/6).

The visit was received directly by the Chief of the Custom Ki Warja, Deputy Chief of the Custom Abah Udin, Secretary of the Custom Firman, and Chairman of the DKM Abah Didi.

During the meeting, the indigenous people conveyed at least five main problems that were considered urgent to be addressed.

The first problem is the lack of legality of ulayat land. In fact, there is land of around 15 to 20 hectares that has the potential to be managed together with the indigenous people. Currently, most of the land is still in private ownership status.

Second, the limitations of irrigation facilities make the agricultural sector not yet optimally developed. During the dry season, residents even have difficulty obtaining water for daily needs.

"Let alone for agriculture, for bathing and cooking is very limited when the drought comes," said Inspector General of Police Purn. Anton Charliyan, who is commonly called Abah Anton, conveyed the results of the dialogue with residents.

The third issue is the damage to the road within the customary village area along about 1.3 kilometers. Although access to the village from Banjar is relatively good, some sections of the road from Kawali are still damaged.

The next problem concerns inadequate customary facilities. Kuta Village does not have a Bale Ageung as a large deliberation hall, leuit or rice barn, heritage storage building, traditional demonstration house, mosque, gateway area, to the Kalpataru monument which is now in a state of disrepair.

Residents also encourage environmental strengthening through the planting of conservation trees such as areca, kirai, albasia, hybrid coconut, and high-value economic crops.

Kampung Adat Kuta has an area of about 185 hectares and is inhabited by 97 families. Part of the area is a prohibited forest or customary forest that is closely guarded.

Traditional customs are still carried out strongly. This village is even known as "Kampung Sarebu Pamali" because many customary rules are still maintained, including a ban on building houses made of cement and a number of other customary provisions.

Abah Anton said that these various problems need to be given attention by the Ciamis Regency Government, the West Java Provincial Government, to the Ministry of Culture.

According to him, the indigenous people also hope that the West Java Governor can visit the Kuta Indigenous Village directly to see the conditions they face.

"Kuta Traditional Village has great historical and cultural values. Therefore, the problems they face also need to be a common concern," said Abah Anton.