Institut Teknologi Bandung

The opinions expressed by Muslim Muin, Ph.D. (Chairman of the Group of Ocean Engineering Expertise ITB) on Tuesday (14.05.13). According to him, the project which cost more than 280 billion dollars is not a solution to the problems flooding and land subsidence in Jakarta. If further investigation, the project will only bring harm.

According to him, there is no need to build Jakarta Giant Sea Wall. Why? In addition to the expensive cost plus operating costs that have not been calculated, the impact of the Giant Sea Wall in the future it will actually aggravate flooding in Jakarta, Jakarta Bay damaging the marine environment, accelerate the silting of rivers, threatening the local fisheries sector, and lead to social problems. 

Giant Sea Wall will lead to reduced river water velocity away due to water level (the lowest point to drain water). As we know the river discharge is the multiplication between water velocity and river cross-sectional area, so if the speed decreases then inevitably Suang sectional area must be enlarged. In fact, there are thirteen rivers that flow into the river in Jakarta Bay so it can be expected that the discharge water is not small. According to Muslims, the problem is almost impossible to be solved by increasing the width of the river (due to settlement and so on). Only the only way to do is to dredging the river to reduce the rate of sedimentation. If dredging is not routine (with the consequences of the additional operating costs), then what will happen is a flood. 

Operational costs are also questionable in the river discharge to lower the water level. Required a large pump to drain the water from Jakarta to the inside of the Jakarta Bay area that requires no small cost in order to burn for 24 hours nonstop. Muslim estimate the cost for this pump 300 billion dollars each year to its normal state. Not to mention when the flow of water when the flood swell, swell certainly pump power requirements.

Not the Solution 

Giant Sea Wall construction is mentioned as a threat rob the solution of which will hit Jakarta. "West Flood Canal (KBB) and the East Flood Canal (KBT) is not enough to protect the capital from flooding, necessary Giant Sea Wall in order to security was more complete, especially in dealing with the tidal flood," said Joko Widodo, the Governor of DKI Jakarta, on Monday (02/11/13) via antaranews.com.

According to Muslims, Rob is a regular natural Fenoma where high sea level. Rob will be tidal flooding due to subsidence (subsidence). He said do not need a giant levee, enough to build structures that are less sensitive to subsidence in areas experiencing land subsidence then this problem can be solved. It is also caused because not all areas experienced subsidence in Jakarta, Tanjung Priok example.

If Giant Sea Wall was built, inevitably Nusantara two fish harbor will be closed, tens or even hundreds of thousands of fishermen have to be moved. Steam Power Plant (CPP) Muara Karang also be closed due to the flow of cooling water is no longer available. If maintained, the cost of operation is very large because it requires a pump that runs continuously. Required funds amounting to 30 trillion rupiah to build a power plant that is equivalent to Muara Karang power plant.

Giant Sea Wall itself is also expected to aggravate the condition of Jakarta Bay neighborhood because they trap pollutants in the area. This is because the openings are planned to be built will not be enough to form a water circulation. To overcome this, the project is planned to be done cleaning the water before it enters the Bay of Jakarta. According to Muslims, this kind of water cleanup could cost up to 5 trillion dollars each year and lead to the emergence of other projects. Muslim states that water quality improvement should focus on upstream, rather than downstream water holds then clear. Planned reclamation policy was not appropriate because it would destroy marine life. If the polluted sea waters, which should be ban while the government took control of marine waste disposal and make further improvements, rather than environmental reclamation and its citizens.

This project seems need to be re-examined. According to Muslims, the Giant Sea Wall is not the right solution. Muslim propose another alternative, namely River Dike. River Dike Muslim version that is making levees along the coast in areas experiencing land subsidence or subsidence and enhance the river embankment. "Levees are designed with masts stuck into the ground first, so the construction is strong, despite an embankment subsidence but will still be standing," said Muslim. This design is cheap and does not close existing facilities.