Sea Wall Project to Be Built Gradually Starting from North Coast of Java

The government has affirmed that the giant sea wall project, or raksasa sea wall, will be built gradually, with the initial phase prioritised in the North Coast of Java region. The Head of the North Coast of Java Management Authority and Deputy Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Didit Herdiawan Ashaf, stated that the project is still in the planning stage to date. “We will delve deeper into activities related to construction,” Didit said at the Presidential Palace complex in Jakarta on Monday, 20 April 2026. According to Didit, the government has not set a construction timeline for the sea wall. However, Didit estimated that construction of the giant sea wall project could start sooner. “The construction target, well, in a time that has not been determined but at least it can be accelerated,” Didit stated. Didit emphasised that the government is still deepening its understanding of construction activities before truly starting the process. “It’s still being calculated, yes, the timing. Because it relates to the available resources,” he said. Didit stressed the importance of utilising resources alongside environmental protection aspects in the construction of this giant sea wall. “One of the main things is that we can utilise environmental matters, so we absorb things related to waste,” Didit said. The government plans to build a sea wall stretching 535 kilometres from the tip of the Banten coast to Gresik, East Java, in line with the threat of rising sea levels due to land subsidence. President Prabowo Subianto has previously stated that this project can no longer be delayed. He mentioned that the project has been in the National Development Planning Agency’s planning since the era of his father-in-law’s government, Soeharto. According to Prabowo, the budget required to realise the project reaches US$80 billion.