THE HAGUE, WILLEMSTAD - State Secretary Alexandra van Huffelen has expressed discontent with Minister Javier Silvania's handling of the National Ordinance on Games of Chance. Silvania submitted his draft law to Parliament in December without first sharing it with the Temporary Work Organization (TWO), a move Van Huffelen deemed as "not the correct procedural course."
In a recent development, a new update on the Curaçao Land Package was presented to the Dutch Parliament last Friday. Van Huffelen, the State Secretary for Kingdom Relations and Digitalization, criticized Minister Javier Silvania's approach in her letter to Parliament. Allegedly, the Curaçao Minister of Finance failed to adequately inform the Temporary Work Organization of all changes related to the National Ordinance on Games of Chance (LOK).
Silvania's failure to share the draft law with the TWO can be traced back to a decision made a year ago, when he opted to stop providing updates to the Netherlands. He expressed concerns that important information could be revealed through requests under the Dutch Freedom of Information Act (WOO). Moreover, Silvania believed that the TWO was exerting excessive influence, as it was anticipated that the organization's advice would be blindly accepted by the Curaçao Minister. However, upon receiving clarification from the TWO that this was not the case, Silvania eventually shared the initial draft law with the Netherlands.
Subsequently, the draft law underwent review by the Council of Advice. It was revealed that the draft version of the LOK needed several amendments following the Council's advice. After incorporating the suggested changes, Silvania submitted the final draft version to the Parliament of Curaçao in December.
However, the submission to Parliament occurred without affording the TWO the opportunity to review the amended version, much to Van Huffelen's dismay. She stated, "The draft National Ordinance on Games of Chance (LOK) was sent to Parliament by the Minister in December 2023, without the TWO having had the opportunity to review it. I have informed the Minister that I do not consider this to be the correct procedural course."
Van Huffelen further mentioned that the matter has already been discussed with the minister, and he has since shared the Note of Amendments to the draft LOK with her. This allows the TWO to assess whether the Note of Amendments aligns with the agreements made in the Land Package.
As part of the Curaçao Land Package agreements, the introduction of the new gambling law on the island, the National Ordinance on Games of Chance, was slated for publication on October 1, 2023. However, it faced multiple delays. In the latest update, June 30, 2024, has been mentioned as the deadline for completing the new gambling law.
Prior to this, on June 1, 2024, the new layout plan for the forming supervisory authority must be finalized. In the earlier draft version, the Curaçao Gaming Authority would not have been independent, which contravenes the agreements in the Land Package.