Amidst criticism from many, President Leonel Fernández confirmed his support to efforts of the Dominican Olympic Committee to win the right to host the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo in year 2003. Dr. José Joaquín Puello, president of the Dominican Olympic Committee, leads Dominican efforts to lobby for the necessary votes to win the site. The Panamerican Sports Organization will vote on 5 December in a meeting held in Panama. Other contenders for the Pan Am Games are Medellín, Colombia and Guadalajara, Mexico. Dr. Puello has said the Games will cost RD$782 million. Detractors, such as former Minister of Sports Jesús de la Rosa say he is underestimating the cost. De la Rosa says that a more realistic estimate is RD$5,000 million cost, which would include RD$2,500 million to build the proposed olympic villa to lodge the 6,000 athletes and delegates from 42 countries that will attend. De la Rosa says that given the recent government announcement that the state will prioritize expenditures and has begun an austerity program, the insistence of the government in hosting the games is hard to understand. He commented that the celebration here of the Games will principally benefit the contractors of the public works and those in charge of the advertising. Two of the strongest promoters of the event on behalf of the government are the Minister of Public Works Diandino Peña, a major private sector builder himself, and Luisín Mejía, a well known advertising executive. De la Rosa called for a renovation of sports leadership that has been the same for the past 20 years, including the president of the Olympic Committee. He mentioned the case of the Volleyball Federation, where a new leader has lead that sport to world class competitive level.
