WILLEMSTAD – Fundashon Marshe says the opening of Marshe Rondo marks the completion of an intensive 18-month recovery process that saw the organization rebuild its administration, resolve outstanding personnel matters, complete four years of financial statements and prepare investment plans for several of Curaçao’s public market locations.
The foundation said it has moved from a period of administrative uncertainty at the beginning of 2025 to what it describes as a more stable organizational and financial foundation.
When interim director Ing. Remy J.D. Ricardo took office on January 21, 2025, Fundashon Marshe was operating without a supervisory board and permanent management after both had departed. Ricardo began his assignment alongside one remaining board member while additional appointments were still pending.
According to Ricardo, the first step was to establish the foundation’s actual financial and operational position.
“The first task was not planning, but seeing clearly,” Ricardo said. “We spent those first weeks mapping out exactly where the foundation stood — its obligations, backlogs, systems and people. Only after that could we honestly say what was achievable.”
The assessment was subsequently presented to the board and the Ministry of Economic Development (MEO), together with a three-year vision covering immediate operational recovery and the foundation’s longer-term development.
One of the most difficult parts of the recovery involved reconstructing Fundashon Marshe’s financial administration while simultaneously modernizing its systems.
Information dating back to 2021 had to be migrated and reconciled with a new digital platform introduced in 2025, while normal operations continued.
The process suffered another setback in April 2025 when a fire at Fundashon Marshe’s temporary office destroyed a substantial part of its financial records.
“A large part of the administration being lost in a fire, in the middle of a reconstruction, is the kind of setback that can derail projects,” Ricardo said. “This project did not. The team simply started again with what remained and what could be reconstructed.”
Despite the setback, the interim management team completed the outstanding financial statements for 2022, 2023 and 2024 within a year. According to Fundashon Marshe, all three were approved following an extensive audit. The foundation stressed that findings contained in those statements relate to periods before the current interim management took office.
The 2025 financial statements were subsequently completed during the second year of the assignment and also received an unqualified auditor’s opinion. This means four years of financial statements were completed within approximately 18 months.
The foundation also addressed outstanding employment issues. It says all employees now have newly prepared and corrected employment contracts, removing uncertainty that had existed within the organization.
Fundashon Marshe is responsible for several prominent market locations, including Plasa Bieu, Barquitos, Plasa di Arte, Marshe di Otrobanda and Plaza Snack, Awasa and Marshe Rondo.
Project plans have now been prepared for the different locations under the foundation’s management agreement with MEO. These include an upgrade of Plasa di Arte with sanitary facilities, a security post and lockers; major maintenance at Plasa Bieu; and a project intended to protect the cultural assets and heritage managed by the foundation in Otrobanda.
Because several of these locations also have a tourism and cultural function within Willemstad, the plans are being coordinated with the Curaçao Tourist Board.
The project files have been submitted to the minister for financing and implementation. However, Fundashon Marshe said financial pressures during 2026 have resulted in implementation being temporarily postponed.
The foundation is meanwhile preparing another phase of modernization. A new corporate identity will be introduced, together with announcements aimed at vendors, tenants and visitors. An entrepreneur portal is also planned, with SENTOO becoming the primary payment method for transactions with the foundation.
According to Fundashon Marshe, the system should make financial management more efficient while simplifying transactions for its tenants.
For Ricardo, the reopening of Marshe Rondo is particularly significant because the location represents the largest portion of Fundashon Marshe’s customer base.
“Marshe Rondo opens on a foundation that is now solid,” Ricardo said. “What our vendors and the public will see is a market. What stands behind it are eighteen months of very focused recovery work.”