JAKARTA, Indonesia– Asian Games venues will be ready before Indonesia hosts the showpiece event in a month, organizers say, but the threat of terror attacks and endless traffic jams still looms over the regional olympics.

An army of laborers has been toiling around the clock to finish building work, widen roads and plant trees in a breakneck bid to beautify Jakarta, a teeming metropolis that many visitors find tough to love.

The athletes’ village looks ready, but some competitors may need nose pegs — it backs out onto a toxic, foul-smelling river.

Jakarta and Palembang in Sumatra are set to host about 11,000 athletes and 5,000 officials from 45 Asian countries for the August 18 to September 2 Games, the world’s biggest multi-sport event behind the Olympics.

Apart from a still-unfinished squash complex, most venues appear nearly done.

The Gelora Bung Karno main stadium, used when Indonesia last hosted the Games in 1962, has undergone a major renovation for the 30 trillion rupiah ($2 billion) event.

“I think all the venues, from what I see… 95 percent should be finished by end of July,” chief organizer Erick Thohir, a media tycoon who is chairman of football club Inter Milan, said last week.

Indonesia started with less time than most countries. It agreed to host the Games when Vietnam pulled out, citing concerns over preparations and the heavy financial burden.

And then Jakarta moved the Games forward by a year to 2018 to avoid a clash with national elections.

But organizers insist it won’t be a repeat of the 2004 Athens Olympics when the main stadium was completed just weeks before the opening ceremony, or Brazil’s 2014 World Cup which went ahead in unfinished venues.

The worst-case scenario remains New Delhi’s 2010 Commonwealth Games, where problems ranged from filthy conditions at the athletes’ village to collapsing infrastructure.

Indonesia had problems with the 2011 Southeast Asian Games following corruption scandals and a deadly stampede at the football final.

But the biggest headache at the Asian Games may be getting athletes to venues on time.

Jakarta has some of the world’s worst traffic, forcing organizers to come up with drastic solutions.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.