TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - National Development Planning Minister Bambang S. Brodjonegoro said the Jakarta needs to build a 20-kilometer long sea wall in the north coast.
“However, there will be another decision to make, which is Jakarta needs to build a 20-kilometer long levee,” Bambang said after a meeting with Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan in Jakarta on Wednesday, March 8, 2017.
Bambang explained that Jakarta only has levees totaling to 340 meters. However, he revealed, the levees are not aligned in a single line. The levees, he said, are the last defense against floods.
Bambang said that the sea walls would be constructed this year and is expected to complete within two years. According to him, the Jakarta administration will cover the project funds that were estimated to amount to Rp9 trillion (US$677 million).
The Jakarta administration, Bambang said, is also expected to provide equal access to clean water for public, in order to reduce groundwater utilization.
“Therefore, Jakarta won’t be threatened by land subsidence,” he explained. “This is the defense strategy against tidal floods.”
Bambang refused to comment on the implication of the levee project on the Jakarta Bay reclamation project. The minister asserted that the reclamation project was not his domain.
“I’m dealing with Jakarta’s defense against tidal floods,” he said.
ANGELINA ANJAR SAWITRI
