Indonesia: Sinking Jakarta plans giant walls

Jakarta, Indonesia. (Souce: lastminute.com)

Hanoi (VNA) – The Jakarta government is drawing up a plan to build giant walls along the coast of the city in order to prevent the intrusion of seawater due to the rising sea level.

Jakarta is one of the most populous cities in the world. The rapid construction on a weak underground foundation has made it sinking at a pace quicker than any cities in the world.

Scientists said the uncontrolled use of underground water is one of the reasons behind the sinking of Jakarta.

Minister of National Development Planning of Indonesia Bambang Brodjonegoro said the construction of walls is extremely necessary and it is unnecessary to argue over the wall’s importance to Jakarta.

Bambang said he submitted to President Joko Widodo a detailed report on the project, whose first phase is estimated to cost 7.7 billion USD, including survey projects until 2025.

In the next phase, Jakarta will have to build offshore walls at a cost seven or eight times higher than that of the first phase, helping protect Jakarta until 2040.

According to the plan, onshore walls will be built at areas where land is sinking fast. They are scheduled to be completed in 2020 or 2021.-VNA