The engineering contractors who pulled out all the stops in order to have their projects ready in time for the Pan American Games in August are on the brink of ruin. The 39 companies involved called on President Hipolito Mejia to pay up the RD$1.1 billion owed to them by the government. The engineers and contracting companies say they are under pressure from their suppliers, because they were forced to take out loans in order to purchase the materials needed to complete the projects. “We fulfilled our obligation, President Mejia, but now we feel helpless, with our hands tied and without any possibility of saving our credit and our companies, which are being boycotted by those we cooperated with so that the country would triumph,” said Garibaldy Bautista, who was responsible for the renovation work on part of the Olympic stadium and who is owed over RD$25 million by the government.