Race to save Jakarta from the sea
- 9 years ago
Indonesia's capital city is sinking.
Jakarta sits on a swampy plain and has sunk four metres in the past three decades.
Water drained through wells to supply the city is causing the ground on which it lies to subside.
Today 40 per cent of the city is below sea level.
The government launched a 263 million dollar scheme in October to build a giant sea wall around the city.
The hope is that the wall will stop the sea water overwhelming the city as it sinks further still.
The World Bank which oversees a huge flood mitigation project in Jakarta which it largely funds says the problems are acute.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) FOOK CHUAN ENG, WORLD BANK'S SENIOR WATER AND SANITATION EXPERT, SAYING:
"If you compare this against the other major cities in this region - Manila, Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City - they also suffer from land subsidence but the rates that we have seen in Jakarta is actually above those other cities."
Jakarta's new sea wall wi
Jakarta sits on a swampy plain and has sunk four metres in the past three decades.
Water drained through wells to supply the city is causing the ground on which it lies to subside.
Today 40 per cent of the city is below sea level.
The government launched a 263 million dollar scheme in October to build a giant sea wall around the city.
The hope is that the wall will stop the sea water overwhelming the city as it sinks further still.
The World Bank which oversees a huge flood mitigation project in Jakarta which it largely funds says the problems are acute.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) FOOK CHUAN ENG, WORLD BANK'S SENIOR WATER AND SANITATION EXPERT, SAYING:
"If you compare this against the other major cities in this region - Manila, Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City - they also suffer from land subsidence but the rates that we have seen in Jakarta is actually above those other cities."
Jakarta's new sea wall wi