THE HAGUE - Dutch Undersecretary Dennis Wiersma of Social Affairs and Employment has no indication that the Social Insurance Bank (SVB) in Willemstad would not implement the court's decision to reverse the cut on benefits for AOV (General Old Age Insurance) beneficiaries living outside Curaçao.

Lawyer Michiel Bijkerk had informed the ministry that the SVB would not respect the court decision. "By letter dated October 10, 2021, which I also received through the intermediary of the acting Kingdom Representative, you drew my attention to the follow-up by SVB Curaçao of the judgment of the Joint Court of Justice regarding the AOV measure of the country of Curaçao," writes Wiersma.

“I would like to point out in advance that Curaçao's statutory retirement pension is a matter for the country itself. In a situation like this, restraint is required on my part. This does not alter the fact that there are good contacts at official level with SVB Curaçao, also about this topic. At board level, SVB Curaçao has confirmed that a start has indeed been made with the execution of the judgment," says Wiersma.

“SVB Curaçao has indicated, based on available data, that it has already written to a total of 643 potential beneficiaries as of 1 July 2021 with the request to supply data to be able to individually assess whether interested parties meet the criteria as laid down in the judgment. SVB Curaçao indicates that it has not yet received a response from all potential beneficiaries, but that it has already started payment for a first tranche of clients.”

Finally, Wiersma says: “This information from SVB Curaçao provides no grounds for the assumption that payment would not be made. From the information received, I conclude that the fact that the payment may take some time is only for administrative reasons.”