Public Works Minister Manuel de Jesus (Freddy) Perez has blasted the way that the cities are spending their money. He said that it was a sad day when the people have to choose mayors and council members that will then use monies destined for important infrastructure projects in political campaigns. He lamented the fact that his ministry, which receives less money than the city councils, then has to spend its own resources to fund work that should be done by the town councils. Speaking with members of the El Caribe Multimedia Group, Perez said that the Padre Castellanos Street would be widened by his team, and that there has been progress on the redesign of traffic flow in Santo Domingo. He also announced the remodeling of the Quisqueya Baseball Stadium. While still pushing for audits of all the city councils to see just where their money went, Perez was happy to announce just which of the major projects requested by organizations around the country would be carried out in 2006. Among these projects was the central park in Santiago, the reconstruction of the highway between Tamboril and Santiago, a new roadway from Piedra Blanca to San Jose de Ocoa, and the reconstruction of the highway between Puerto Plata and Samana. Other projects will link the regions of del Valle and Enriquillo, so that travelers to the deep south of the DR will no longer need to go via Azua.