Indonesia's Former Colonizer and Its Famous Talent for Building Infrastructure to Control Flooding

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Rising waters around Jakarta and I understand the city is also sinking at the same time, mostly because of heavy groundwater use. The Netherlands literally means low-lying country; much of it was below sea level even before man-made climate change started to kick in. Dutch engineers have become some of the best in the world at building dikes and spillways, storm surge barriers. In 2014, the Indonesia government started a massive project to protect Jakarta from the rising sea - called Great Sea Wall Jakarta.

Southeast Asia is especially vulnerable to storms, rising oceans, and other climate effects—though countries in the region did very little to create the crisis. In Indonesia, among other climate-related challenges, the capital city is sinking into the sea. Part 5 of our series, The Repair, on the climate emergency.

Reported by Nita Roshita, with recording and production help from Hilman Handoni. Mixed by host John Biewen. Interviews with Bondan Kanumoyoso, Yayat Supriatna, Selamet Daroyni, Amalia Syafruddin, and others.

The series editor is Cheryl Devall. Music in this episode by Lil Haydn, Kim Carroll, Chris Westlake, Lesley Barber, and Fabian Almazan. Music consulting by Joe Augustine of Narrative Music.