Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto has set up a new agency to advance the multi-billion dollar megaproject of constructing a giant sea wall that could protect the flood-prone Jakarta.

The Indonesian leader unveiled on Monday the so-called Java North Coast Authority Body, dedicated to overseeing the region locally known as “Pantura Jawa”. This is a term that Indonesians use to refer to the northern coastline of its most populous island, Java. 

Prabowo had picked Deputy Fishery Minister Didit Herdiawan Ashaf to pursue a dual role by also heading the newly-established body.

The government intends to construct a coastal defense that would stretch 500 kilometers from Banten to East Java’s Gresik, a plan that requires around $80 billion, according to the government's estimates. Local media reports showed that the sea wall could even top 700 kilometers in length. Prabowo has included this colossal project on his priority to-do list for his presidential term.

State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi recently confirmed that the new agency would focus on putting the coastal defense plan into motion.

“The plans to construct a giant sea wall actually date back to the 1990s. Studies show that there is land subsidence in the Java North Coast region each year. Some areas even suffer recurring tidal flooding. Around 20 million people live along this coastline, and that’s why we have to do something,” Prasetyo told reporters in Jakarta on Monday. 

Prabowo has instructed Chief Infrastructure Minister Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono to oversee the project. Agus said his ministry would join the agency as part of its steering committee. 

“The Java North Coast Authority Body will update the various concepts and designs related to the giant sea wall. We have to make sure that [the concepts] suit today's conditions,” Agus said.

The government also intends to prioritize public-private partnerships to fund its costly construction. Earlier this year, Agus pitched the giant sea wall project to Indonesia’s top investor, China, during a business trip to the Asian superpower.

The new body’s organizational structure already has two deputy chairmen, namely financier Darwin Trisna Djajawinata and deputy rector Suhajar Diantoro. Darwin was once the finance director for the government’s development financing vehicle SMI. Diantoro currently serves as a vice rector for legal affairs at the Home Affairs Ministry's higher education institution, IPDN.

“We need to have a representative from the Home Affairs Ministry because the Java North Coast region encompasses five provinces,” Prasetyo said.

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