WILLEMSTAD - Finance Minister Javier Silvania has once again found himself at the center of controversy after intervening in the labor policy of the Curaçao Medical Center (CMC).
In a Facebook post, Silvania announced that he had allocated 3 million guilders to provide hospital staff with a Christmas bonus and promised salary increases for 2025. While this may appear to be a generous gesture, the CMC is an autonomous organization with its own management, over which politicians have no authority. Decisions regarding employee benefits are typically negotiated between management and labor unions.
Silvania, who often refers to himself in the third person as "the MinFin," shared the news on Facebook, saying he had "good news for my beloved brothers and sisters of the CMC," adding his catchphrase, "Minfin make it happen." This is not the first time the minister has undermined the hospital’s leadership. Silvania, a member of the MFK party, was also a key factor in the recent breakdown of the Pisas cabinet, as the PNP party left the coalition after a heated debate over the minister's unilateral decision to write off 3 billion guilders in tax debts.
The financial gesture towards CMC staff is widely seen as an early move ahead of next March’s elections.