DEN HAAG, WILLEMSTAD – The District Court of The Hague has rejected a multi-million-dollar claim by HNO Vastgoed en Beheer against construction company Ballast Nedam related to the construction of the new hospital in Willemstad.
HNO had demanded that Ballast Nedam pay an additional 6.52 million dollars after previous court proceedings over construction delays and compensation payments. Following the latest ruling, only a remaining amount of 5,521 dollars in interest remains payable.
The dispute dates back to the construction of the Curaçao Medical Center (CMC). During the project, Ballast Nedam argued that delays occurred because parts of the construction site were not made available on time or were incomplete.
A dispute committee later awarded Ballast Nedam millions of dollars in compensation. However, in December 2025, the Joint Court of Justice ruled that a large portion of those payments had to be returned by the construction company.
The court allowed certain deductions, including specific compensation amounts, price index adjustments and interest calculations.
Following that ruling, HNO calculated that Ballast Nedam still owed approximately 15.4 million dollars. Ballast Nedam disagreed and calculated the amount at around 8.9 million dollars.
The company subsequently paid 3.39 million dollars directly to HNO. In addition, HNO received 5.5 million dollars through a guarantee provided by insurer Zurich.
Despite those payments, HNO maintained that millions remained outstanding and sought enforcement of the Joint Court ruling in the Netherlands. The organization also attempted to claim payment under a corporate guarantee from Ballast Nedam’s parent company.
Court follows Ballast Nedam calculation
The preliminary relief judge in The Hague largely agreed with Ballast Nedam’s calculations.
The court ruled that statutory interest on several deductions had to be calculated until the moment Ballast Nedam actually fulfilled its repayment obligation.
The judge also accepted a price risk adjustment of 403,700 dollars, rejecting HNO’s argument that the amount was insufficiently substantiated and should therefore be reduced to zero.
The only remaining obligation concerns interest for the period during which HNO had not yet received the final 5.5 million-dollar payment. That amount was set at 5,521 dollars.
As a result, HNO is not allowed to enforce the earlier judgment for a higher amount.
The court also ordered HNO to pay more than 2,200 euros in legal costs.