Seawall to save Java

PLAN: 700KM CONSTRUCTION ALONG THE COAST

- 

The encroaching ocean laps against a road in Karminah's village, threatening her home on Indonesia's Java island, where the government says it has a plan to hold back the tide.

It wants to build an $80 billion (about R1.4 trillion), 700km sea-wall along Java's coast to tackle land loss as climate change lifts sea levels and groundwater extraction prompts land to sink.

For residents who have seen the tide come more than a kilometer inland in parts of Java, the plan sounds like salvation.

But with a timeline of decades and uncertain financing, it's unlikely to arrive soon enough, and climate experts warn it could make matters worse by pushing erosion elsewhere and disrupting ecosystems.