Meanwhile, Hoy and El Caribe newspapers report that Minister of Environment, Frank Moya Pons does not agree with the use of the park for the construction of sports venues. He said no kind of construction should go up in protected areas. For the construction of sports complexes there is sufficient land elsewhere in Santo Domingo, he said. He suggested land located between the San Isidro Air Base and the V Centenario Race Track. "There is no need to use land that is part of national parks, and above all, the Mirador del Este Park, the eastern side of Santo Domingo’s only green zone," he said. The matter hit the press when former President Joaquin Balaguer, under whose government the park was built, signed a letter of concerned citizens that reject the construction of the sports venues at the park. Recently, the executive vice president of the Pan Am Games, Raul Barrientos said that the Games would cost the country RD$1,499.4 million (about US$90 million).
