Jakarta, May 4 -- Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY) noted that the construction of sea walls on the North Coast of Java is aimed at maintaining food production.

"It also simultaneously maintains food production. Besides protecting the industrial center, we must also consider the protection for numerous food centers, food crops, and agricultural areas from seawater intrusion," he remarked at the Kick-Off Meeting for the Integrated Coastal Protection Infrastructure for Java's North Coast in Jakarta on Monday.

According to him, of the total 1.5 million hectares of rice fields in Java, 115,000 hectares are affected.

"We must prevent this. Investment in agricultural modernizatio...