Indonesia in race against time to ensure 2018 Asiad makeover ready on schedule
>> JAKARTA: Indonesia on Friday launched the one-year countdown to hosting the 2018 Asian Games with fireworks and a traditional dance as it sought to display to the region it was up to hosting the tournament.
Thousands of people packed around the national monument, or Monas, in central Jakarta to watch a light show and performances by musicians and entertainers.
President Joko Widodo shot a bow and arrow to set off laser lights and two digital clocks that will count down to the opening ceremony in exactly one year.
Jakarta and Palembang, on the island of Sumatra, will host around 10,000 athletes from 45 countries, competing in 39 sports from Aug 18 to Sept 2, 2018.
Indonesia last hosted the Asian Games in 1962 in Jakarta, and for many Indonesians the Games will be a chance to showcase the country’s sporting and economic success.
But questions have been raised about how ready the country will be.
Indonesia has faced a race against time to prepare for the 18th Asian Games after original hosts Vietnam withdrew in 2014 due to financial problems, meaning the country has only had four years to prepare instead of the usual six.
On a dusty construction site in central Jakarta, amid sacks of cement and bulldozers, hundreds of high-vis clad workers toil away to bring Indonesia’s Asian Games dream to life.
One year out from the opening ceremony of the world’s largest multi-sport event after the Olympics, the city’s Gelora Bung Karno sports complex, which was built more than half a century ago, is undergoing a drastic renovation.
As the Asiad’s top venue — hosting football, basketball, tennis, volleyball, and archery — the 55-year-old Gelora Bung Karno will be under intense scrutiny.
But despite the fast-approaching deadline, the man responsible for upgrading the complex’s main stadium, Wikrama Wardana, said recently there was still plenty of time to complete the job.
“We are going to do our best to finish it within the time frame. Once the contract has ended, there will be enough time to prepare for the Asian Games more thoroughly,” Wardana said at the arena.
When the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) visited Indonesia in March, it warned the country it faced huge challenges, raising concerns about a lack of coordination between bodies carrying out different tasks, such as those building venues, and organising the lighting and sound systems.
Observers from the OCA have also raised questions about the suitability of the athletes’ village and transport to and from venues in a city notorious for major traffic congestion.
In another setback, Jakarta’s landmark Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) train system won’t be ready until 2019, meaning fans will have to navigate the traffic-choked streets by taxi, motorbike or clapped-out bus.
However, Indonesia’s Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi has hit back at the criticism, saying the country should be praised for hosting the Games at such short notice.
“Actually they have to thank Indonesia because Indonesia saved this Asian Games,” he told AFP, adding the pace of development was clearly visible.
But beyond the clatter of machinery at Jakarta’s top sporting complex, there are few clues the city is about to host its first Asian Games in 50 years.
Marketing for the event is conspicuously absent and, despite a budget of about four trillion rupiah (US$300 million), awareness seems to be limited, if not non-existent, among residents.
“I didn’t know Indonesia will host it. I rarely watch the news and read newspapers,” Linggar Rysandika, 25, told AFP while waiting for a bus next to the unfinished softball venue.