This study aims at identifying the main obstacles to optimizing the provision of public services to the districts in the island areas and to discussing the prototype model of asymmetric decentralization in providing public services to the island areas. This study was conducted in three districts of small islands at the Tual city of Maluku province namely the districts of Kur Island, South Kur Island, and Tayando Tam island . The data were collected through triangulation of sources and methods. The informants were selected based on consideration of the position and competence of the required information. The methods were the in-depth interview, observation, documentation, and the Focus Group Discussion (FGD). The results showed that there were three main obstacles in providing public services to the districts in the island areas. Firstly, the partial authority of Mayor of Tual city had not given yet to the Head of Districts based on the Article 226 of Law No. 23 in 2014 about RegionalGovernment. Secondly, the transportation for the islands was inadequacy and the natural conditions were challenging that obstructed the mobility of citizens to access the service center and it was difficult for officers to reach people who want to be served. Thirdly, the lack of resources (human resources, funds, and facilities) in some districts at the island areas. To overcome those problems, specific autonomous was required by island province that concerned different treatment settings to the districts within the island areas namely the expansion of authority, the increase in the position, and the development of resources and the organizational capacity and districts management.

This study aims to analyse the collaboration form of, and critically discuss the determinant factors of collaboration those are more significantly distorted, in the governance of CSEL’s CSR program on agriculture-based economic empowerment for communities in the Salas village of Bula Sub-District, Eastern Part of Seram Regency in Maluku Indonesia. The collaboration form, the determinant factors of collaboration and their distortion as the main focuses were employed in a qualitative case study. Primary data was collected by using an in-depth interview and Focus Group Discussion. There are 9 key informants. Secondary data was collected by using documentary study on relevant documents (CSR rule & regulation, CSR Reports, etc.). The CSEL’s collaborative CSR program was a type of formal collaboration that was significantly distorted. The stakeholder, communication and also collaboration resources were among the determinant factors which were significantly distorted in the governance of the CSEL’s collaborative CSR program, and therefore it failed for empowering the economy of the host community in the Salas Village. The findings of this study are useful to understand the specific formal collaborative management of CSR in Indonesian oil and gas sectors which were distorted in the CSEL’s collaborative CSR program case; particularly, these findings show the challenges the oil & gas sectors face in managing their collaborative CSR programs by improving the determinant factors of collaboration. This study adapts not only the concept of collaboration form, but also the well-known determinant factors of collaboration into a unique and specific case of CSEL’s formalized collaborative CSR program within the Indonesian oil & gas sectors context that was significantly distorted in practice if compared to other CSR programs of CSEL and others.

This study is a descriptive qualitative research that aims to know the winning strategy of the Golkar Party in the 2020 Seram Bagian Timur Regency Election. The study results showed that the realization of the Party's programs offered to the community is more inclined to the people's economy, such as in infrastructure, education, and health. The placement of figures was very influential in winning the 2020 Pilkada. The political behavior of the community tends to choose Mukti and Idris because of the candidate's character, vision, and mission on the collective expectations of the community. In the Adat leadership, Pak Mukti supports and develops local wisdom and inaugurates Adat leaders in Seram Bagian Timur Regency. Pak Mukti's leadership always tends to represent the interests of Adat.

This study proposes a form of governance of sub‐district public services based on the geography of the Maluku archipelago in Indonesia. Using qualitative research, data were collected using in‐depth interviews, focus group discussions, documentation, and field observations, involving informants from local and sub‐district government elements and community leaders. This study revealed that the governance of public services in the islands is not optimal because it cannot meet the challenges that are unique to the islands, such as minimal authority, inadequate organisation and management capacity of the sub‐district, lack of human resources and facilities support, and limited transportation facilities. This study found two primary causal factors, namely: first, internal factors, (1) implementation of the concept of symmetrical decentralisation in various local contexts, (2) disproportionate fiscal policies, and (3) weak political commitment of mayors regarding delegation of authority and discretion. Second, external factors are related to the difficulty of accessing services.Points for practitioners The non‐optimal governance of public services in the islands cannot meet the challenges. The uniqueness of the islands includes minimal authority, inadequate organisation and management (O&M) capacity of the sub‐district, lack of human resources and facilities support, and limited transportation facilities. The Islands Sub‐District Governance Model (ISGov‐Model) proposes attributive and discretionary authority, increased O&M capacity, financial support, and adequate staff and facilities. The ISGov‐Model leads the archipelagic sub‐district to become the epicentre of public services.