A Study on Community Participation in Implementing Neighborhood Upgrading and Shelter Sector Project in Kelurahan Pontap, Palopo

Abstract

City’s population growth will highly influence the increase of housing needs because housing is one of the basic necessities besides cloths and food. Apparently, this becomes serious problem when it is related to poor urban residents who are impelled to build squatter area close to working area even though they have to live in crowded living space. It is on this area that the infrastructures availability is limited. The residents’ low socio-economic condition prompts it to be a slum area. For this reason, one concrete and comprehensive alternative solution to handle urban slum settlement area is Neighborhood Upgrading and Shelter Sector Project (NUSSP) program. NUSSP program at Palopo city is started on 2006 to 2008. This program uses community participatory approach as the target of the policy and program. The implementation of NUSSP program at Kelurahan Pontap is the construction of slum area infrastructure such as environment path, alley, sanitation and clean water. This research aims to study the community’s participation in implementing the slum area development program at Kelurahan Pontap, Palopo city. The target research are the identification of slum area development program, the characteristic of the community at Kelurahan Pontap, the analysis of community participation in the slum settlement development program and to conclude the relation between the program implementation and community participation. The analysis method used in this research is descriptive analysis using qualitative approach in a form of words, not numbers. This research uses random sampling for the respondents of Kelurahan Pontap whose houses are categorized as slum. The conclusions are obtained from the targets through the infrastructure construction such as the building of environment path, MCK (public bathing, washing and toilet facilities) building and drainage. The community participation to support the infrastructure building is by contributing themselves such as their involvement on the program/ project planning and implementation that are carried out by the local community. The community participation is carried out in each RW (neighborhood), that is RW 1, RW 2, RW 3 and RW 4 which is supported by the influencing factors such as active involvement in meetings, giving idea or suggestion and involved in decision making at the planning phase. While the implementation phase is influenced by skill and power factor, the monitoring phase is influenced by the result and benefit. The recommendation given for the community at Kelurahan Pontap, Palopo city are a socialization and workshop for the community at RW 1, RW 2, RW 3 and RW 4 about the importance of education; community involvement to democratically make a decision in RW 3 and RW 4; socialization in each RW upon the importance of healthy living; other programs supporting community participation in creating environment quality, community-based sanitation quality improvement and so on; community encouragement to involve at their improvement of healthy life-style; community encouragement to involve in community organization in increasing community participation to upgrade and improve environment quality.