Plans for this summer's Pan-Am Games in the Dominican Republic may be behind schedule but John Hoskins, president of Bermuda Olympic Association, does not foresee any problems once the event begins.

Officials of the 42 countries and territories participating in the 2003 Santo Domingo Pan-American Games discussed their teams' logistical needs at the venue's headquarters last week.

Local organisers briefed mission chiefs on transportation, room and board, and training facilities for the athletes during the Games, which begin on August 1.

Tours to the different sporting facilities and Olympic villas were also on the agenda for Hoskins and his counterparts during the trip.

"The Village is coming along pretty well," said Hoskins. "But there is an awful lot of work to be done.

"The communal areas, like the dining areas and the visitation areas, are way behind but they are assuring us they will be finished.

"I think the basics will be there; they (the athletes) will have their dining hall and basic accommodation."

Most of the sporting facilities were also coming along, Hoskins said.

"There was lots of progress but at some of them, again, there was still lots of work to be done," he said. "But I think in the sports that we are primarily interested in there is no problem."

Hoskins said the delays were brought about by a lack of funding.

"The government was relying on funding from Venezuela and Venezuela had a lot of strikes so some of the money wasn't forthcoming," he said. "There are a number of reasons."

As far as Bermuda's squad were concerned, Hoskins said it was still some way from being finalised.

"There are still people trying to qualify so our team numbers are not certain by any means at this moment," he said.

Caribbean Boxing Championship gold medal winners Sharieff Wales and Trace Easton had now come into the equation for starters, the president said.

"We have just seen about the boxers - we didn't know about them and they are possible qualifiers," he said.