President Hipolito Mejia said there is no reason to fear that the Pan American Games will be prevented from being held in the Dominican Republic. He again promised that the government would meet all the original commitments it had made in connection with the Games. ?Here, everyone is afraid of everything. We have the syndrome of pendejismo,? he told journalist Maria Eugenia Payan in an interview for RNN, Channel 27. In this context, the use of the word ?pendejismo? can be translated loosely to mean that Dominicans suffer from a syndrome by which they are rendered ?losers? or ?chicken?.
Last week, the president of the Organizing Committee of the Games, Jose Joaquin Puello, said he was concerned regarding the cash flow from the government for the construction, remodeling and staging of the event. He said that the organizers needed RD$400 million this month to meet their commitments and that the Pan American Sports Organization had given a deadline of 30 May to have the installations ready. The repairs on the Olympic Stadium where the opening and closing ceremonies and track and field events will take place have yet to begin.
According to a report in Diario Libre, Garibaldi Bautista, the engineer in charge of remodeling the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Stadium says that if they receive the money now they will be able to complete the remodeling in time for the May deadline.
The Venezuelan-Dominican consortium Jantesa-Csalca-Disconsa is responsible for the remodeling works at the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center, principal site of the August games. The remodeling is being financed with a loan from Venezuela that obliges that almost two-thirds of the purchases of equipment and construction items be made in Venezuela. Given the present political crisis in Venezuela, ships are not leaving Venezuelan ports regularly, further aggravating the problem.
Moreover, a report in the Listin Diario says that the supervisor for the Pan American Games, engineer Roque Napoleon Mu?oz, says that Jantesa-Casalca-Disconsa has not yet received from the government the plans for the outside areas, electricity, or plumbing — a requirement essential for the company to meet its deadline. The company is also demanding an increase to its budget because of the reduced time in which they must complete the works.
El Caribe newspaper reports that the Senate approved RD$1.7 billion for the Pan Am Games, of which RD$972 million was included for the organization of the games and RD$800 million for construction of sports facilities. The Budget is expected to pass in the Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday, 15 January.
