Pekalongan Becomes Priority, Giant Sea Wall Project to Start Soon
The head of the North Java Coast Management Authority (BOPPJ) and Deputy Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (Wamen KP), Didit H Ashaf, has affirmed that the proposal from the Minister of Public Works (PU), Dody Hanggodo, to prioritise Pekalongan in the development of the Giant Sea Wall (GSW) or Giant Sea Wall has been accepted and incorporated into the planning for the Java North Coast (Pantura) coastal protection project.
“Yes (yes). So it has been included now that we have calculated its scale. For Kendal, Semarang, Demak, the detailed planning is already nearly 80 percent complete,” Didit stated during his speech at the Kick-Off Meeting for Integrated North Java Coast Coastal Protection Infrastructure in Jakarta on Monday (4/5/2026).
Didit explained that for the Pekalongan region, mitigation and investigation processes are currently underway regarding the conditions of the waters and coastal areas before moving to the implementation stage.
“For Pekalongan, we are currently carrying out mitigation. Secondly, of course, further investigation is needed for the waters, the beach, and so on,” he said.
According to Didit, the construction of the GSW along the North Java Coast is designed in 15 segments so that the work can be carried out simultaneously according to the priority level of each region.
He stated that construction interventions are carried out based on applicable procedures and considering the land subsidence conditions occurring in several coastal areas.
“The most severe is land subsidence. One of them is the excessive use or utilisation of groundwater,” Didit remarked.
Therefore, the GSW construction will also be directed to support the provision of raw water for coastal communities.
“One or two of them involve building seawalls utilising existing structures to become raw water for the future,” he added.
Didit also touched on the challenges of land acquisition in the North Java Coast development project.
According to him, finding large-scale land in that area is not easy because many aspects need to be discussed, especially regarding land acquisition.