Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto conveyed readiness for the construction of the Giant Sea Wall National Strategic Project along the north coast of Java (Pantura) to protect 50 million people from rising sea levels.

Chairing a Plenary Cabinet Session on the first year of his administration, Prabowo explained that the construction of a 535-km.-long giant sea wall along the Pantura coast is the government’s solution to addressing the sea level rise of about 5 cm. per year due to the impact of climate change.

“We have begun preparations to build a 535-km.-long sea wall on the north coast of Java to protect 50 million people from the sea levels rising by 5 cm. per year,” he remarked at the Plenary Cabinet Session at the State Palace in Jakarta on Monday.

According to the president, the imminent threat of climate change could endanger 60 percent of the national industry located on the north coast of Java.

Productive rice fields, which serve as the nation’s food barn, could also be at risk without the sea wall, he added.

Prabowo emphasized that this step represents the state’s responsibility to protect the people and the nation’s strategic assets.

The giant sea wall project is one of the Prabowo administration’s national strategic programs (PSN) to protect coastal areas from tidal flooding and the impacts of climate change.

Several phases of the Giant Sea Wall construction will be offered for funding cooperation with partner countries.

Project financing will focus on the Public-Private Partnership scheme.

Previously, Prabowo explained that the construction of the sea wall project, which has been in the planning stages of the National Planning Agency (Bappenas) since 1995, would cost at least USD80 billion.

Despite being in the planning stages since 1995, Prabowo remains unshaken even if the project will only finish under a future presidency.

“This (project) is vital, a mega project. I do not know which president will complete it, but we have to start, and we will start,” he pointed out. (PNA)