The Ministry of Public Works suspended construction works being carried out in the Plaza de la Salud. Victor Marmol, in charge of public relations for the board of the Hospital General Materno-Infantil said, "As they came, without making an announcement and without much noise, they left." The government had begun the construction of nine towers of 22 floors each on the grounds adjacent to the medical center. The construction of the luxury towers that supposedly would house the Olympic village in case the country wins the Pan American Games for year 2003 and would be assigned to families with ties to the government party. Former President Joaquín Balaguer and Cardinal Nicolás López Rodríguez, president of the medical center’s board, firmly opposed the construction of the complex. The press office of the National Palace issued a press release notifying that the Ministry was carrying out the studies necessary to carry out a project at the Plaza de la Salud, with characteristics to be discussed with the board of the medical complex.
