(c) The San Juan Star July 26, 1997
by Robert Becker
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"Are you as amazed as I am at some of the wild ní wacky ways the government spends our tax dollars?
- What would you do, for instance, if you were the mayor of a tiny island whose chief attraction was a magnificent phosphorescent bay whose unparalleled natural wonders should be protected and nurtured to attract tourists worldwide? The answer is obvious: You build a $10 million "Sports City Complex" on a hillside immediately overlooking the ecologically fragile bay, complete with two ballparks, basketball courts, hiking and camping areas, trailer park and seating for 3,000 of your islandís 8,000 inhabitants. For good measure, you erect stadium lights with enough candle power to make Puerto Mosquito Bay, with its millions of tiny, light sensitive dinoflagellates, the envy of Times Square.
- Thatís what Vieques Mayor Manuela Santiago has got cooking on "La Isla Nena." Recently I stood on that hillside looking down on the sports complex under construction, and the only comparison I could make is that itís like plopping Hiram Bithorn Stadium down in the middle of San Sebastian Street in Old San Juan. I guess Mayor Santiago has never heard of La Parguera. "
- What would you do, for instance, if you were the mayor of a tiny island whose chief attraction was a magnificent phosphorescent bay whose unparalleled natural wonders should be protected and nurtured to attract tourists worldwide? The answer is obvious: You build a $10 million "Sports City Complex" on a hillside immediately overlooking the ecologically fragile bay, complete with two ballparks, basketball courts, hiking and camping areas, trailer park and seating for 3,000 of your islandís 8,000 inhabitants. For good measure, you erect stadium lights with enough candle power to make Puerto Mosquito Bay, with its millions of tiny, light sensitive dinoflagellates, the envy of Times Square.
| Becker wrote: |