President Fern?ndez announced yesterday a decision long expected but repeatedly denied by Sports Minister Juan Marichal: the National Games ("La Romana ‘99") will be postponed. Speaking at a mini-press conference honoring the DR’s baseball champions, the Licey Tigers, the President told reporters that the games will be held in February 2000, and that his government would ensure that all the necessary repairs and public works would be done in time to meet that deadline. The postponement was rumored after Hurricane Georges devastated the sports facilities at La Romana. Recently, however, Marichal insisted that no such presidential decision had been made or proposed and that the Games would in fact be held in La Romana during 1999. This flew in the face of studies by engineers suggesting it would require many months of intensive work before La Romana would be ready to host the Olympic-style Games.
