Engineer Roque Napoleón Muñoz, a former president of the Dominican Olympic Committee, and a member of the committee that is organizing the tender to choose the builders of the Pan American Games Olympic Village, said that all three of the companies that qualified for the tender for the construction of the Olympic Village towers will receive government contracts. He spoke upon hosting US Olympic Committee Bill Hybl, who visited to learn about progress made towards the organizing of the 2003 Santo Domingo Pan American Games. He explained that the company that presents the best offer with the lowest cost will win the construction of five towers. The second place winner, will get a contract to build two towers. The third place winner will be authorized to build one tower. The three Dominican-Spanish consortiums that are bidding are: OGL y Asociados-Grupo Alfa y Omega, Ferrovial-Agroman-Imbert Domínguez y Asociados and Neso-Marcos Tulio Pérez. The companies will build using their own funds. They will make their money by selling the 700 apartments once the Games are over. Muñoz explained that the tender is being carried out with the utmost transparency. He said they have worked closely with the Cámara Dominicana de Construcción and the Colegio de Ingenieros, Arquitectos y Agrimensores (Codia), the two leading private sector construction associations. The Olympic Village will go up on a government-owned lot that is diagonally across from the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center, where most Pan Am Games competitions will be held. The project calls for the construction of eight towers of 23 floors each, and underground parking for 1,000 vehicles by May 2003, two months before the start of the Games. The tender will be held 14 February, and winners will be announced shortly after.
