The Netherlands says it will give US$4 million for a feasibility study to build a dike on Jakarta Bay to solve the city’s water and flooding problems.

During a recent visit, Ben Knapen, the Dutch Minister for Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation, said that experts from the Netherlands would develop a project master plan after the feasibility study was finished.

Initial plans for the project call for a ring dike, a pumping system and retention areas to be built by 2025.

The project was expected to involve the National Development Planning Agency (BAPPENAS), the central government, the local administration and the Public Works Ministry.

Previously, the Jakarta Coastal Defense Strategy (JCDS) consortium arranged a cooperative agreement between the Dutch and Indonesian governments that included many departments, companies and institutions and commissioned a separate study from Dutch research institute Deltares and the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).

The JCDS’ study, which will form the basis for the feasibility study, is expected to be complete by September.

Heri Andreas, a geodesy researcher at ITB, said: “The dike could be designed as a livable dam with many facilities as well as serve the harbor.”

The dike would regulate and control seawater and serve as an additional toll road connected to several of Jakarta’s main highways, he said.

“Thus, part of the huge traffic problems in Jakarta would be alleviated.”

As the project will involve a huge amount of money organizers are calling for private-public partnerships to meet budget shortfalls.

The main problem affecting the city is its slow sinking, according to research projects completed within the last two years.

“Jakarta is sinking about 5 to 10 centimeters each year, while in some places in the north the rate of sinking is 20 centimeters,” Andreas said.

According to Jan Jaap Brinkman, a hydrodynamic expert from Deltares, “the biggest problem right now is the extraction of deep groundwater by shopping malls and apartment blocks that is causing Jakarta to sink.”

According the JDCS study, 50 percent of Jakarta will lie under sea level within the next 10 to 20 years.

Maaike Keizer, a diplomat of the Dutch Embassy, said that the JCDS study would be followed up by a feasibility study and detailed designs.

“In the phase of the master plan and the feasibility study, they will analyze influencing factors that cause flooding in Jakarta and the options and types of dikes to determine which is the most feasible in discussions with the related government agencies.”