TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has agreed to extend the bilateral partnership on the National Capital Integrated Coastal Development (NCICD) or known as Jakarta’s giant sea wall.

"He [Rutte] agrees to extend the NCICD project as the Memorandum of Understanding will expire on July 2020," said Basuki at the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java, Monday, October 7.

Basuki reiterated that the cooperation on the NCICD project had been on for three years together with the Netherlands and South Korea. The project includes the construction of the sea dike on the north coast of the capital in three stages. This year, the government was striving to complete the first phase or phase A.

The feasibility study of the project was carried out in collaboration with South Korea. As for the financial matters, the minister added, the government worked with the Netherlands.

NCICD is listed as part of the national strategic projects. The dike will see a total of 122 kilometers in length--60 kilometers in the coastal areas as the barrier and another 62 kilometers for the river flow for the sanitation and anticipation of pollution and land subsidence.

The PUPR Ministry is only responsible of the construction of a 20-kilometer embankment. "That's what we will finish first," said Basuki.

Previously, Basuki assessed that the construction of coastal embankments and the NCICD project could save Jakarta from potential land subsidence. According to him, the metropolitan city experienced land subsidence of 11-12 centimeters every year. Hence, in the next few years, backwaters might occur as the river water could not go back to the sea due to the high sea level.

FRISKI RIANA