P

oor residents living in the northern part of the city have long suffered the regular visits of high tides to their residential areas as unexpected seawater inundates their houses. The city administration has so far seemed powerless in fighting this natural phenomenon.

We, therefore, support the ongoing construction to raise the height of the seawall, as it is expected to help ease residents’ misery due to endless flooding in their areas.

The existing wall, ranging in height from 0.8 to 2.5 meters along the 32-kilometer long northern coastline of the capital, has failed to protect the area from flooding during high tides. The ongoing project, which is scheduled to be completed next year, is aimed at increasing the height of the 32-kilometer seawall to 3 meters.

As part of the project, the city administration is responsible for upgrading an 8-kilometer-long section of the wall to protect residents, mostly living in slum areas. Meanwhile, the remaining 24 kilometers of seawall will become the responsibility of the private companies that manage properties located behind the seawall.

It has been reported that the seawall upgrades are designed to only last between five and 10 years. The project is therefore only a temporary answer to protect the northern part of the city from flooding caused by high tides. In the long run, the city administration is planning to construct a more permanent giant seawall, scheduled for completion
in 2025.

So far the poor people living the northern part of the city have borne the brunt of the flooding because the elevation at which their houses were constructed is lower than middle-class residential areas.

The land, where the middle-class houses were built, was elevated prior to construction. As a result, seawater flows from these areas into the surrounding poorer neighborhoods inundating not only their houses, but also city infrastructure such as roads, which surely hampers daily activities and worsens sanitation.

The planned giant seawall project is obviously needed, but due to the size, costs and potential environmental impacts of the project, careful analysis should be conducted before the project begins. As such, the city administration should also consider alternative technologies, which might be better and offer more effective results than the higher seawall.

Environmentalists’ concerns that the giant seawall project, which includes land reclamation, could potentially worsen annual flooding during the rainy season in the city should be of serious concern to the city administration. Such concerns should be addressed before such a large project is undertaken, including the use of appropriate technology, to end the suffering of many Jakartans affected by annual flooding.

We really hope that the completion of the 3-meter-high seawall will end the misery of poor residents living in the city’s coastal areas, who have so far been completely unprotected from prolonged flooding.

As Jakartans living in other parts of the city cry loudly when occasional flooding affects their lives, we should remember the many desperate residents of coastal areas for whom flooding is a continued part of their daily lives.