Indonesia’s leader says sinking Jakarta needs giant sea wall

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Indonesian President Joko Widodo says he wants to see the speedy construction of a giant sea wall to prevent the low-lying capital of Jakarta from sinking under the sea.

His comments to The Associated Press lend renewed backing and urgency to a slow-moving, contested mega project.

Widodo is up against a tight timetable. A leading expert reiterated Saturday that if the ground keeps sinking at the current rate, one-third of Jakarta could be submerged by 2050. The sinking is mainly caused by over-extraction of groundwater and more buildings, including high-rises, pressing down on swampy ground.

The existential crisis facing the city of 10 million people is a culmination of unfettered development. Rising sea levels from a heated-up planet will compound the problem in decades to come.