The government has discovered that the embankments along the northern coasts of Jakarta, Tangerang and Bekasi are in a critical condition and in urgent need of reinforcement. The project has progressed slower than expected, as the Public Works and Housing Ministry and local administrations have built only 17 kilometers of embankments since 2014, whereas embankments spanning 120 km are needed to protect the vulnerable shoreline.

The 2016 Updated Master Plan on the National Capital Integrated Coastal Development (NCICD) targets only 20.1 km of embankments in Jakarta for reinforcement. However, the plan also highlights the urgent need to construct an additional 100 km of embankments against the unusually high "king tide" – or nodal tide– an oceanic lunar tidal cycle that occurs every 18.6 years, caused by the orbital alignment of the Moon and the Sun directly over the equator. (JP/WendraAjistyatama)

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(JP/Sausan Atika)