Sports Minister Juan Marichal told reporters at a press conference yesterday that his Ministry was handing over repair and reconstruction work on La Romana sports facilities to the Ministry of Public Works. The press encounter was held to tout the 1998 achievements of the Sports Ministry. Marichal said that his Ministry’s engineers have readied all the necessary plans for Games preparations; all that is needed is the "aggressive" execution Public Works Minister Diandino Pe?a is known for. The move is intended to ensure that all work on the facilities is finished in time for the Twelfth National Sports Games "La Romana ’99," scheduled for this summer. The Games are an Olympics-style competition held at the national level. In response to questions, Marichal declared that the Fern?ndez Administration never considered postponing the Games. Such denials aside, Marichal’s own Ministry was rife with rumors before Christmas that the Government was seriously considering postponement due to the long lead-time estimated necessary in order to repair the extensive damage done to La Romana sports facilities by Hurricane Georges.
