World Cup buzz includes drills, hammers as Qatar races to be ready

Cafes in Doha's West Bay district teemed with people anticipating the upcoming football World Cup, but in the darkened streets outside workers collected debris from a just-finished 30-storey tower block.

Across the Qatari capital, new hotels are opening, spectacular street art has gone on display and the flags of the 32 competing nations dominate avenues that will be filled with hundreds of thousands of fans after the tournament starts on November 20.

But in West Bay, along the Doha seafront, and in the new city of Lusail, where the final will be staged on December 18, labourers are racing to finish some hotels and fanzone facilities with just weeks until kick-off.

"All the works linked to the World Cup... will be finished on time according to forecast plans," organising committee deputy director general Khalid al-Mawlawi told reporters Thursday.

At the tower in West Bay, which was just a concrete skeleton when the World Cup draw was held at a nearby convention centre in April, dimmed lights showed newly furnished apartments.

Several cranes that dominated the district have disappeared in recent days.

The tower is just one of the mammoth projects -- along with new stadiums and a new metro -- finished by an army of foreign labourers since Qatar was awarded the World Cup in 2010.

But the race is still on to complete some buildings.

At the Katara 'cultural village', a huge white hotel resembling India's Taj Mahal remains part-shrouded in scaffolding.

The project's 59 luxury rooms and 32 villas are meant to open this month. But the road in front is closed while labourers finish the seafront promenade.

In a Katara park, families picnicked in the evening cool next to 15 villas with views over the Gulf.

Two cranes hang over them and dozens of workers hammer and paint inside some villas. The opening date is uncertain.

- Busy night shift -

A short drive north, sparks from drills and grinders light up a Doha golf club, where workers are constructing a stage that will hold the many concerts planned for the 29-day tournament.

As the night progresses, cranes are still moving and workers are finishing buildings in Lusail, close to the 80,000-capacity World Cup final venue.

At the entrance to a marina, one fanzone is completely dark.

But in the Katara Towers, shaped like two scimitar swords and destined to become two of the most luxurious hotels in the Gulf, the sound of drilling can be heard.

The hotels are slated to open in November.

Next to the towers sits an imitation desert camp, where goats and chickens kept in cages wait for tourists.

Also nearby is Al Maha island, a giant theme park with capacity for 14,000 people where the ferris wheel and other attractions were being tested without users.

The island is advertised on World Cup promotional material, and officials say it will open soon.

But the entrance road is blocked by security guards, and just before midnight workers taking a break sat among piles of excavated earth.

Other towers in Lusail remain empty and dark, yet to be completed.

Late in the night, buses pulled up and about 200 workers climbed out to start their shift on construction sites, as work continues around the clock.