Thousands of athletes from 54 countries are expected to participate in the games that will be held in Jakarta and Palembang, South Sumatra, from August 28 to September 2, 2018.
Indonesia, which has now taken over the task of hosting the 18th event from Hanoi, Vietnam, since the latter has delegated the responsibility to it due to financial reasons, will do its best to make the games a successful international event.
A total of 40 branches of sports covered in 462 events, comprising 32 Olympic sports and eight non-Olympic sports, will be competed at the 18th Asian Games to be co-hosted by Jakarta and Palembang.
It will be the second time that Indonesia is hosting the Asian Games next year. Indonesia hosted the Asian sporting events for the first time in 1962, the fourth one after the Asian Games were first organized in New Delhi, India, in 1951.
There are five venues in the capital city of Jakarta with its population of around 10 million people, namely the Bung Karno main sports stadium (Gelora Bung Karno), Velodrome Rawamangun, Equestrian in Pulomas, yacht race in Ancol and Golf in Pondok Indah.
The Indonesia Asian Games Organizing Committee (INASGOC) has set the travel time of athletes from their locations of lodging to the game venues is 34 minutes at the maximum.
On the decision of INASGOC owing to the travel time of athletes from their locations of lodging to the game venues, the Jakarta`s transportation office or Dishub has carried out a test for the athletes travel time recently.
"We have conducted a test for the athletes travel time from the athlete `village` in Kemayoran to the Bung Karno main sports stadium that takes about 38 minutes," according to Andri Yansyah, head of the capital city`s transportation office on Wednesday (Nov 15).
The travel time trial was held on September 27, 2017 by using the Transjakarta lower deck passenger bus.
The Jakarta`s transportation office will repeat another test on the travel time of athletes in an effort to reach the target already set by the INASGOC.
The travel time test is also aimed to see any point of heaviest traffic in the Indonesia`s largest city.
In addition, travel time trial was conducted to see any point of heaviest traffic, given a predefined travel time is 34 minutes.
During the 18th Asian Games, the sport branches that will be competed are as follows.
The Olympic Games branches will include Aquatic, Athletic, Fencing, Weightlifting, Basketball, Bola tangan (handball), Badminton, Baseball/softball, Cycling, Equestrian, Golf, Wrestling, Hockey, Judo, Karate, Canoeing/Kayak, Sailing, Shooting, Modern Pentathlon, Archery, Sport climbing, Rowing, Rugby, Gumnastic, Skateboarding, Football, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Boxing, Triathlon, and Voleyball.
The non Olympic Games are Bowling, Bridge, Cricket, Kabaddi, Martial Arts (Jujitsu, Kurash, Pencak Silat, Sambo, and Wushu), Mechanical Sports (Paragliding and Jetskiing), Squash, and Sepak Takraw.
Apart from that, the Jakarta`s dishub will deploy as many as 1,300 personnel during the 2018 Asian Games sports competition to help manage traffic as well as to escort the 2018 Asian Games athletes from their lodgings to the venues.
The Jakarta`s transportation office also makes sure that all athletes will not arrive late at the game locations.
An allocation of Rp34 billion budget was also made to provide a number of vehicles to support the smooth running of the Asian Games 2018.
On the other hand, the South Sumatra Provincial transportation office will provide five special buses to transport spectators of the Asian Games, according to Uzirman, secretary of the South Sumatra`s Transportation office.
The South Sumatra Provincial government has prepared the Jakabaring sports complex to implement the Asian Games event.
Meanwhile, the South Sumatra Association of the Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies (ASITA) will also prepare tour packages to welcome the upcoming Asian Games 2018.
South Sumatra ASITA`s Head, Anton Wahyudi, stated in Palembang recently that his side will prepare tour packages for the participants of the international sports festival in 2018.
The tour packages will be prepared especially for Palembang since the city, as the capital of South Sumatra, has several tourism attractions, he said.
The tourism attractions being prepared for the destinations are the Kulo Besak Fort, Al Munawar Village, Kemaro Islands, and various museums.
The tour packages were deemed important, as the international guests attending the event in Palembang will be keen to explore the place they will be competing in.
"Hence, we should utilize the opportunity to promote Palembang`s tourism," he said.
Earlier, South Sumatra Government Assistant and Public Welfare Secretary Akhmad Najib remarked that locations in South Sumatra, such as the Musi River with its Ampera Bridge, Al Munawar as a historical village and Siguntang Hills, as well as Palembang, have huge tourism potential.
(B003/o001)
(T.SYS/A/KR-BSR/O001)
Reporter: Bustanuddin
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2017
