TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto said tidal flooding caused by sinking land and rising sea levels is threatening the north coast or Pantura of Java, including Jakarta. He revealed that the estimated economic loss due to the disaster in the capital alone reached Rp2.1 trillion.

“In the next 10 years, it could reach Rp10 trillion [in state losses] per year. This will surely result in a direct loss of opportunity costs,” Airlangga said at the National Seminar on the strategies for protecting Java Island by the coastal and sea embankments in Jakarta, on Wednesday, January 10.

Therefore, Airlangga added, the government implemented several policies to overcome this problem. One of them is the construction of a giant sea wall.

At present, Phase A of the construction of a giant sea wall covering about 120 km is still underway. The project focuses on 44.2 km of critical locations and the remaining 33.3 km will be built by the Ministry of Public Works and Housing or PUPR and the Jakarta Provincial Government.

The Phase B project, which covers 20 km, will be built in 2030, and Phase C, covering 12 km, in 2040.

Airlangga pointed out that tidal flooding is not only a threat to the north coast of Jakarta but also to other areas along the north coast of Java. Land subsidence in Pantura was recorded at one to 25 cm per year, while sea level rise reached one to fifteen cm per year.

“That is almost half a meter in the northern region of Java, especially in Semarang, which was flooded,” Airlangga added.

Consequently, he said, some 50 million people in the Pantura areas will be affected, not to mention the 70 industrial zones in the area. “Of course, this [situation] endangers not only the continuity of the economy and infrastructure but also the society,” Airlangga concluded.

RIRI RAHAYU

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