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Jakarta Post

Jakarta almost ready for Asiad

After nearly two years of preparation, Jakarta finally appears fired up for the 2018 Asian Games

Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Thu, July 12, 2018

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Jakarta almost ready for Asiad

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fter nearly two years of preparation, Jakarta finally appears fired up for the 2018 Asian Games.

The government and the Jakarta administration have accelerated dozens of infrastructure projects to build Games venues, athletes villages and other supporting facilities, and 95 percent of the work in the capital had been done as of Wednesday.

Twenty competition venues at the Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) sports complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta, and another 20 venues across the capital have been prepared to stage the multisport event, which will begin on Aug. 18.

The revamped sidewalks at the compound along Jl. Gerbang Pemuda, Jl. Asia Afrika and alongside the eastern parking lot of Senayan have become spacious and now feature a modern look.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan inspected the sidewalks on Wednesday morning to show that the area is ready for the event.

GBK sports complex management center (PPKGBK) president director Winarto said the venues inside the complex were ready to host the Games, except for the squash court that still needed some finishing touches.

“The development of the squash court was quite lengthy, because the government, through the Public Works and Housing Ministry, only reached a decision to construct the court in the GBK complex in February this year,” he told The Jakarta Post.

GBK’s main stadium has been closed to the public since Tuesday for the final work.

The stadium area was fenced off, with construction workers busy operating heavy equipment. “We’re installing lamps, sound systems, stages as well as stage lighting for the event. We are now preparing for the ‘party’,” Winarto said.

Other places in the city are also almost ready.

Two major projects still facing hurdles are the expansion of sidewalks along Jl. Sudirman and Jl. M.H. Thamrin and the LRT line connecting Kelapa Gading in North Jakarta with Rawamangun in East Jakarta.

The Jakarta administration has been planning to revamp the 6.9 kilometers of sidewalks from Senayan to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle since 2016.

However, work on the project only began in March, since Anies had requested several changes to the project, including the provision of motorcycle lanes.

The sidewalks are to be widened to 10 to 12 meters. As part of the renovation, the thoroughfares will no longer consist of fast and slow lanes, but one slow lane for regular buses and motorcycles, three lanes for cars and one for Transjakarta buses.

City-owned PT MRT Jakarta, publicly listed PT Jaya Konstruksi Manggala Pratama and state-owned PT Wijaya Karya are the developers responsible for the expansion project.

The city secretary’s assistant for development and environment, Yusmada Faizal, said the administration would prioritize revamping 2.5 km of sidewalks from Patung Pemuda Senayan to Dukuh Atas to welcome the Asian Games. The project is set to finish on July 22.

“We want to level the surface of the sidewalks. Currently, the sidewalks are ruined because of the MRT construction,” he said.

Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said earlier that the project should be finished no later than July 31, because the Asian Games delegates would start coming to the city that time.

After a delayed test run of the LRT line as a result of unmet construction requirements, Anies replaced Satya Heragandhi, the president director of city-owned PT Jakarta Propertindo, the project developer. He has been replaced by Dwi Wahyu Daryoto, a former director of state-owned energy company Pertamina.

Anies denied that Satya had been replaced over poor performance. In fact, he said he would give Satya a position that would enable him to focus on managing the city’s LRT system.

“This is only a tour of duty. We really need Satya for the LRT,” he said.

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