Jakarta is sinking at an average rate of 25cm per year (Photo: Reuters).
Indonesia is reviving plans to build a giant sea wall in the latest measure to stop the capital Jakarta from sinking at a faster rate due to rising sea levels, Bloomberg reported.
The project will be built in three phases until 2040, with the first two phases costing 164.1 trillion rupiah ($10.5 billion), Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said on Jan. 10 at an event to unveil the latest plan for the sea wall. He did not disclose the estimated budget for phase three.
While the idea has been around for more than a decade, the proposal to build a sea wall has recently been revived as Jakarta becomes the world's fastest-sinking megacity.
Indonesia's current capital sinks up to 25cm in some areas each year, while tidal flooding rises up to 200cm a year, according to Mr Hartarto.
Home to more than 10 million people on the island of Java, Jakarta saw some areas flooded by up to 4m between 1997 and 2005. Experts predict that a third of the city could be submerged by 2050 if left unchecked.
Flooding in coastal Jakarta is estimated to cause 2.1 trillion rupiah ($135 million) in damage each year and is likely to increase to 10 trillion rupiah ($642.5 million) per year over the next decade.
A simulation drawing of the sea wall project in Jakarta in 2014 (Photo: Antara).
To slow the sinking process and ease the pressure on Jakarta, Indonesia has restricted groundwater extraction and pushed ahead with plans to move the capital to Nusantara in the Borneo rainforest.
Indonesia will elect a new leader on February 14, and whether President Joko Widodo's successor will pursue large-scale infrastructure projects remains to be seen.
"The problem this sea wall faces is that it will take about 40 years to complete," Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, who is leading voter surveys for the presidential election, said at the announcement of the sea wall plan.
“The question is whether political leaders have enough focus, thinking and ability to see the project through. This is our responsibility,” he said.
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