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View all search resultsGovt to speed up giant seawall plan in five Java provinces
The construction of the massive seawall project will be divided into 15 segments under a “parallel development” approach, but no launch date has been determined yet.
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People are seen walking near a stream of water flowing from cracks in several sections of a giant seawall on Dec. 6, 2025, in a residential area in Muara Baru, North Jakarta, (The Jakarta Post/Iqro Rinaldi)
T
he government is seeking to speed up the implementation of the giant seawall project along the northern coast of Java Island, to tackle the lingering risks of land subsidence, rising sea levels and significant economic loss.
In the project’s kick-off meeting on Monday, Coordinating Infrastructure and Regional Development Minister Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono emphasized that the seawall project “could no longer be delayed”.
The meeting was attended by several central government officials and local authorities involved in the planned giant seawall, which will be constructed across five provinces, 20 regencies and five cities spanning from Tangerang, Banten, to Gresik, East Java.
Agus highlighted the urgent need to build a massive seawall to protect the coast of Java, describing the area as “highly strategic” for economic development and growth, with its significant contribution of US$368.36 billion, some 27 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
He also said that land subsidence along the coast could occur at a rate of between 1 and 20 centimeters a year, with the most severe in Jakarta and Semarang, Central Java. At the same time, rising sea levels due to climate change are projected to reach a rate of between 0.8 and 1.2 cm a year.
“The total population living along the northern coast of Java, in 20 regencies and five cities, is roughly 55 million people. This is a significant number. This is the urgency that we hope can push and motivate us all,” Agus said.
During the meeting, Agus added that the 500-kilometer megaproject is slated to include various developments, such as city revitalization and the integration of the government’s fisherman villages initiative.
