Pan Am Games on target say organisers

SANTO DOMINGO: Sports venues and facilities will be ready for next month’s Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic, as long as there are no further construction delays, organisers said yesterday.

A delegation of the Pan American Sports Organisation visited 29 of the 35 sporting installations during a four-day trip that ended yesterday — the organisation’s final supervisory visit before the games begin Aug. 1. “All facilities will be ready for the games ... if there are no interruptions,” said Michael Fennell of Jamaica, the organisation’s second vice president. The organisation must certify all facilities within the next two weeks, however, and there are still scoreboards and sporting equipment to complete and computer systems to coordinate, Fennell said. “It is going to be close, but it can be done,” he said. Fennell led the visiting delegation along with the organisation’s General Secretary Felipe Munoz of Mexico.

Though the event usually requires international certification through full-scale trial competitions, the Mexico City-based organisation has had to accept “simulated” tests with athletes going through events just to make sure equipment and facilities work properly. “There can be no substitute to test events, but if you are in the situation that time does not allow, you have to find the next best thing,” Fennel said. Funds were also a concern, though the Finance Ministry has guaranteed disbursement of the remaining 400 million pesos (US$13 million) for construction, according to local organisers.