BOPPJ: Giant Sea Wall Development Divided into 15 Segments

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Badan Otorita Pengelola Pantai Utara Jawa (BOPPJ) states that the construction of the Giant Sea Wall, spanning approximately 575 kilometres along Java’s North Coast or Pantura, will be divided into 15 segments.

“The construction itself is approximately 575 kilometres along Java’s North Coast. We have divided it into 15 segments where construction activities can proceed in parallel,” said BOPPJ Head Didit Herdiawan Ashaf during a press conference in Jakarta on Monday.

Therefore, Didit explained, BOPPJ is also conducting planning activities for the groundbreaking of the programme and infrastructure to ensure they proceed together, involving cooperation with local governments from district and city levels up to provincial levels.

“With such conditions, the 575 km development will certainly be thematic, not solely grey infrastructure but thematic. Moving forward? We will continue to carry out planning activities in accordance with our duties, collaborating with local governments on development planning and management,” he said.

Of course, the Giant Sea Wall development along Java’s North Coast is not only about protecting factories and offices but also the lives there, ecosystems and ecology, with the most numerous ecosystem being fishermen.

“This is what we will integrate with the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, of course, as well as the Ministry of Villages and Underdeveloped Regions Development, the Ministry of Cooperatives, and many other activities that we will hybridise with the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries and other ministries,” Didit stated.

For information, the Government through the Badan Otorita Pengelola Pantai Utara Jawa (BOPPJ) is accelerating the integrated coastal protection system for Java’s North Coast (Pantura).

The Republic of Indonesia Government through BOPPJ emphasises that the development of the North Coast Java coastal protection system, including the Giant Sea Wall (GSW), is part of the national strategy to ensure the sustainability of the North Coast Java coastal civilisation.

The coastal protection being developed is not merely interpreted as sea wall construction, but as an integrated system that combines offshore dykes, onshore dykes, and nature-based solutions such as mangrove ecosystem strengthening.

The North Coast Java region faces serious challenges in the form of land subsidence, sea level rise, rain-induced flooding, and tidal flooding that impact settlements, industrial areas, ports, airports, agricultural land, reduction in coastline and land, as well as national strategic infrastructure.