TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Public Works and Public Housing Ministry’s special staff on water resources, Firdaus Ali, claims that the city’s national capital integrated coastal development (NCICD), more known as Jakarta’s giant sea wall, will start in 2020 after essential studies are done.

“The study should have been completed in 2018, but the design’s study is expected to last until the end of 2019. We should see the groundbreaking in 2020,” said Firdaus Ali when Tempo reached him today on December 11.

The study will not only involve the Jakarta administration, but also the Banten Province and West Java administrations.

“There will also be experts from the Netherlands, Korea, Japan, and of course Indonesia that will together study the giant embankment,” he said.

The study itself will involve state universities such as University of Indonesia (UI) and the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB). The universities’ role will be to determine the rate of land sinking Jakarta is experiencing, the rise of sea levels, and the effects of global warming.

Prior to adopting the NCICD concept, the development of the Jakarta giant sea wall was opposed by Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, who at the time though it would turn Jakarta into a large single pool.

M JULNIS FIRMANSYAH