Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Prabowo Subianto has established the North Coast Java Authority to fast-track urgent coastal protection efforts, including the long-delayed construction of a Giant Sea Wall to combat rising sea levels and land subsidence.

State Secretary Minister Prasetyo Hadi said here Monday the newly formed body will be led by Deputy Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Didit Herdiawan Ashaf, under Presidential Decree No. 76P/2025.

"It should be noted that the plan to build a giant sea wall or an embankment along the north coast of Java has been in existence since the 1990s," he told the press after the inauguration of Ashaf and other institution leaders by the president.

He explained that the Pantura Authority is tasked with planning, developing, and managing the project to safeguard roughly 20 million residents along the coastline from worsening land subsidence and recurring tidal floods.

The minister underlined that Ashaf would be supported by two deputies -- Darwin Trisna Djajawinata, a director at a state-run infrastructure financing firm, and Suhajar Diantoro, a former Home Affairs Ministry secretary-general.

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He justified their appointment by saying the project requires strong expertise in finance and investment as well as coordination with local governments across the five provinces the sea wall will span.

He expressed hope that the new institution would enable more effective responses to environmental threats along Java’s northern shoreline.

First introduced in 1995, the giant sea wall plan had stalled until President Prabowo declared it a national priority, with the structure projected to stretch 700 kilometers from Banten to East Java.

In its first stage, the wall is envisioned to cover northern Jakarta, Banten, and Bekasi, with an estimated construction budget of Rp123 trillion (around USD7.4 billion) over the next eight years.

Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono has repeatedly underscored the project's significance for millions living along the Pantura, stressing its role in countering climate change impacts, notably coastal erosion, land subsidence, and tidal floods.

Marine Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono, meanwhile, has assured the public that the project would not interfere with ongoing aquaculture pond revitalization along the shoreline.

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