The Dominican press has only scantily reported on the progress of the construction and remodeling of venues for the Pan Am Games over the past three years. The story has been the same: the government was not releasing the funds as programmed, thus causing delays in the construction of the sites. Making matters worse, the government and the organizing committee authorized the construction of costly world-class installations for the 1-17 August event. Those responsible for the venues continued to insist they would meet the deadlines set, but as time has shown, this did not happen and with only days left to go, the real deadline ? that of the arrivals of the athletes ? will soon be upon them.
\nHoy newspaper carries statements from those responsible that the football field under construction will be ready in time. The same newspaper?s photos indicate that the builders would need a miracle to occur to be finished on time. The very same could be said for the Palmarejo Equestrian Center and the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center.
\nThe president of the Dominican Sailing Federation, Andres Santana, told Hoy newspaper that the sailing site has not yet been equipped and that they need RD$2 million by tomorrow at the latest to complete the equipping of the site.
\n?It would be shameful if the sailing event were to fail for lack of attention, when it is the least costly sport for the games and the only one in which there has not been an investment needed for installations,? he said. Although the government is using the installations of the Santo Domingo Yacht Club, Santana says that the technological equipment, the buoys, the electric grain for lifting and weighing the boats, and the telecommunication equipment have not yet been installed, nor has the press center.
\nMeanwhile, El Caribe newspaper featured a story in its Sunday edition asking what is the real cost of the Pan Am Games. The newspaper recalls that the 1999 Pan Am Games held in Winnepeg, Canada cost US$150 million. Based on that, local sports promoters of the Games argued that the Santo Domingo Games would cost US$90 million. Today, people are hesitant to give an estimate, although Budget Director Ernesto Cuevas points to a RD$4.5-billion price tag (about the same amount as Winnepeg Games cost), while other analysts say the Games may have cost Dominicans as much as US$360 million.
\nMiguel Guerrero, on the Cadena de Noticias talk show, lamented that the facilities may end up following in the footsteps of other sports venues in the DR ? becoming high-cost hurricane refuge shelters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Dominican press has only scantily reported on the progress of the construction and remodeling of venues for the Pan Am Games over the past three years. The story has been the same: the government was not releasing the funds as programmed, thus causing delays in the construction of the sites. Making matters worse, the … <\/p>\n