‘Fighting the sea every day’: Indonesia’s US$80 billion bid to save sinking Java coast

[SEMARANG] On a quiet afternoon in Sayung, an industrial district in Demak Regency, Central Java, the steady hum of factory machines has long been replaced by the rhythmic splash of seawater against concrete walls.

Rusted gates and shuttered shopfronts now line the flooded streets. Muhammad Kharis, 52, said flooding is part and parcel of life in his hometown, but over the past decade, it has become more severe.

“It feels like fighting the sea every day,” he lamented. “We spend money just to stay afloat. The moment we stop, the water takes over.”