The Organizing Committee of the 2003 Pan Am Games is confident that all steps leading to the DR keeping the seat of the summer games have been taken. A meeting will be held in Panama on 19 January to decide on whether the DR will keep the seat of the games. Dr. José Joaquín Puello, president of the Organizing Committee highlighted that Congress has regularized the status of the lands on which the athletes village will be built, President Mejía has allotted RD$365 million for the Committee in the 2001 Budget, and the Venezuelan government will be providing a soft loan for the construction or repair of sports installations. In other happenings related to the Pan Am Games, he announced businessmen Rafael Perelló (Café Santo Domingo) and Tony Rivera (Induveca) will replace resigning Francis Malla (Mabrano & Cia.) and Jose Leon Ascencio (E. León Jiménes) at the helm of the Organizing Committee of the Pan Am Games.
