The GSW, already designated a national priority, has previously been given further institutional weight through the establishment of a special body to manage and accelerate its implementation.

Together, these developments suggest a strong political commitment and a sense of urgency. The GSW is presented not just as an engineering feat, but as a symbol of decisive leadership, foreign policy leverage and resilience in the face of climate threats.

Yet, beneath these diplomatic headlines and bureaucratic maneuvering lies a deeper question: Is this actually the right policy?

For all its scale and symbolism, the GSW may be exactly what it looks like: a costly and overengineered response to the wrong problem. It shows confusion in policy, poor problem diagnosis and the risk of spending billions on the wrong solution.

The GSW was originally conceived to address tidal flooding and rising sea levels in Jakarta. Now, however, it has evolved into a far more expansive project, stretching along the entire north coast of Java. It carries an estimated cost of US$80 billion, nearly double Indonesia’s yearly budget for all infrastructure.

With the creation of a dedicated government body and the possibility of Chinese financing, it would become one of the most politically charged and institutionally entrenched projects on the national agenda. However, the core policy problem remains vaguely defined.