The special envoy of the Executive for climate and energy, Hashim Sujono Djojohadikusumo, assured that the project is approved and will extend from the province of Banten to East Java in order to protect the rice fields of the northern coast of the island of Java, the country’s most populated.

According to the official, many fishermen are concerned about the problem of rising sea levels, which the government has identified as a serious danger since the 1990s.

The plans to build a huge sea wall are not new; Hashim explained that studies have been carried out since 1994, although the strategy has not materialized until now.

Such ambitious construction could take one to two decades and will be integrated with existing flood and tide control dykes in Tambaklorok, Semarang and Central Java, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said.

mh/jav/oda/msm