can be Jakarta’s Great Sea Wall Just a Pipe Dream?
Lagged budget disbursement pushed back the construction of a giant sea wall in Jakarta, which was supposed to be finished by April 2018. Two years after the project’s inception, reports indicate the initial work on the “Great Sea Wall” can be only 4 percent complete.
Home to more than 10 million people along with recognized as the economic, political along with cultural centre of Indonesia, the sprawling metropolis of Jakarta can be the largest city in Southeast Asia—along with This kind of’s sinking.
The capital of the Emerald of the Equator lies on a low flat basin 23 feet above sea level. 40 percent of that will, however, particularly the northern areas, can be below sea level. Given the continuous groundwater extraction along with the pressure of skyscraper developments, This kind of can be no surprise that will Jakarta can be sinking at 7.5 to 15 centimetres per year.
The national government along with economic experts have long struggled to come up which has a resolution for the problem. Back in 2013, President Joko Widodo, who was then governor of Jakarta, proposed a six-step plan to solve the flooding dilemma. These steps included the relocation of people living on the riverbanks, repair of the canal, building of reservoirs along with installation of pumps.
Later in 2014, Widodo met with city officials along with ministers to endorse an ambitious plan that will had long been on the drawing board: the construction of a garuda-shaped Great Sea Wall.
Part of the National Capital Integrated Coastal Development master plan, the two-step Great Sea Wall project might highlight the ongoing construction of a US$2 billion, 32-kilometre wall behind an existing wall that will can be slowly being eaten up by the sea. Estimated to be complete in 2018, This kind of first phase might make way for fresh pumping stations along with help raise the levels of the city’s riverbank dikes.
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The plan also called for urban development along with the rise of a “Waterfront City” replete with hotels, luxury housing along with office towers atop the seawall complex to make This kind of more attractive for private investors. The private sector might play an integral role in financing This kind of US$40 billion mega-structure, which can be supposed to include 17 artificial islands complete with toll roads, a seaport along which has a railway.
If the project ever came to reality, Jakarta Bay might become a water reservoir enclosed within the Giant Sea Wall along with might eventually become a source for clean water for the entire city. Prior to that will, the city might also need to build along with implement water purification along with treatment plans. In theory, This kind of might stop the bay coming from being contaminated by rivers along with canals.
Even though the project can be way behind schedule, the people in charge are still optimistic. Head of Water Management Agency Teguh Hendrawan said his department will hire more workers along with increase working hours to catch up with the schedule.
Governor Ahok has expressed doubts about the project.
“Flushing the mud will be very problematic,” Ahok said to an audience of hydrologists. He added that will the master plan might have to also face the challenge of corruption within the country head-on. This kind of might be tricky, as This kind of has been recognized as one of Indonesia’s biggest-ever infrastructure projects.
Editing by Nadya Joy Ador along with Leighton Cosseboom; featured image via geograph; post image via wikipedia; video via Al Jazeera English
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can be Jakarta’s Great Sea Wall Just a Pipe Dream?
can be Jakarta’s Great Sea Wall Just a Pipe Dream?