31 July 2003

It was worth it, says President
President Hipólito Mejía has said that the sacrifices made for the Pan
American Games have been “worth the effort” and that the country’s
honor was at stake. He spoke during a well-attended and lively ceremony
for the inauguration of the sporting installations at the Parque del
Este yesterday. Mejía said the government had fulfilled its commitments
with utmost responsibility, despite the country’s current economic
difficulties. The President and a group of athletes lit the Games’
torch during the inauguration and baseball legend Juan Marichal will
light the flame at the main stadium at the opening ceremonies tomorrow.
Games organizer José Joaquín Puello rejected the Associated Press
report that the ceremony might have to be postponed for one day because
the installations were not ready.

Amelia Vega to attend closing ceremony
Amelia Vega, the 18-year-old Dominican winner of this year’s Miss
Universe contest, will travel home on 16 August, in time to attend the
Pan American Games’ closing ceremony together with President Hipólito
Mejía. This will be Vega’s first visit to her native land since being
crowned Miss Universe in Panama City in June. She will carry out a
series of official engagements during her six-day stay, including a
procession along the Malecón of Santo Domingo during Sunday’s Malecón
Libre event, when the seafront avenue is closed to vehicular traffic.

Traffic problems
Traffic restrictions on Ave. Ortega y Gasset are already in place, in
preparation for tomorrow’s Pan American Games opening ceremony, to take
place in the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Stadium at 7pm. Some lanes have
been reserved for the exclusive use of Games-related transit, and a
massive clean-up operation is under way in the stadium and all
surrounding areas. The arrangements include meticulous security
measures.

OMSA buses head for JPD Park
El Caribe reports that during the Pan Am Games many OMSA public buses
will be making a detour from their normal routes, so as to pass by the
Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center. The idea to provide city residents
with public transportation to the main venue of the Games. The buses
will make stops at one of the four access routes to the Games. Since
only two doors will be open to the public, those not stopping by the
Ortega y Gasset or 27 de Febrero accessways, will have to walk around
the block. Parking will be difficult near the JPD Olympic Park, as
vehicles are not being allowed to park inside.
Drivers in general in Santo Domingo should avoid the areas of Ortega y
Gasset, Máximo Gómez, John F. Kennedy and 27 de Febrero avenues between
now and 17 August, until the games have ended.

Ticketing
All tickets in the range of RD$200 to RD$1,000 for the opening Pan
American Games ceremonies are sold out. Tickets at RD$2,500 and
RD$3,500, are still available but are going fast.
Wendi Foster, in charge of ticketing, says: “Closing ceremonies tickets
in these price bands are selling extremely fast already.”
She explained that tickets for athletic events are selling well,
particularly the basketball semi-finals and finals, for which there has
been a huge rush of interest.

Culture and shows at East Park amphitheater
Almost every evening for the duration of the Pan American Games, there
will be free shows at the East Park Amphitheater, which seats 5,000.
See Calendar.

US TV won’t broadcast Pan Ams
So far, none of the US sports networks has announced any telecast of
the Pan American Games taking place in Santo Domingo. Neither ESPN nor
FOX Sports will be providing live coverage. CBS, ABC and NBC will be
providing regular coverage in their sports updates, but no live
coverage, either.
The Pan Am Games’ organizers say, however, that 14 Latin American
stations have purchased the rights to transmit the Games.
In the DR, the ceremonies and events will be broadcast by the
government al Corporación Estatal de Radio y Televisión (Certel,
formerly RTVD) on Channel 4, as well as on the government-intervened TV
stations RNN (Channel 27) and Telecentro (Channel 13).
 

Source: http://dr1.com

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