WILLEMSTAD – Despite repeated recommendations from the Ombudsman, longstanding problems involving delayed government responses and decision-making continue to affect citizens, particularly within the Ministries of Justice and Traffic, Transport and Urban Planning (VVRP).
According to the Ombudsman's 2025 Annual Report, the institution had already warned in its 2024 report that many complaints stemmed from citizens becoming stuck in administrative procedures because government agencies failed to respond within a reasonable time.
Ombudsman Keursly Concincion attributed the delays to unnecessarily complex procedures, cumbersome administrative systems and capacity constraints within the civil service. He urged government agencies to give greater priority to handling complaints internally.
However, one year later, the situation appears to have worsened.
The report shows that the total number of requests received by the Ombudsman increased from 958 in 2024 to 1,340 in 2025, representing an increase of nearly 40 percent. Much of that growth came from cases involving the Ministries of Justice and VVRP.
The annual report highlights several examples of prolonged delays.
One case involved a man who waited more than five years for information from the Curaçao Police Force regarding an investigation into the chassis number of his motorcycle. The Ombudsman concluded that it was improper for the police to leave him without information for such an extended period and instructed the Minister of Justice to respond within six weeks. According to the report, no response had been received when the annual report was finalized.
Another case involved a resident who had been waiting since 2017 for government action to address persistent flooding in her neighborhood. Seven years after authorities had promised to resolve the issue, no solution had been implemented and the resident had received no substantive update. The Ombudsman concluded that the responsible minister had acted unreliably. Again, no response from the ministry had been recorded by the time the report was published.
In a separate 2025 investigation, a woman reported construction work taking place next to her home and asked whether a building permit had been issued. After nine months, she had still not received a written response from the Department of Spatial Planning and Development. The Ombudsman's investigation ultimately found that the construction was proceeding without the required permit. The minister was instructed to issue a decision within four weeks, but the annual report notes that no response had been received.
The Ombudsman also expressed concern about the limited follow-up to its formal findings. During 2025, the institution issued 15 investigative reports. According to the annual report, only one of those reports had received an official response from the government body concerned.
The report concludes that the ministries where citizens most frequently encounter administrative difficulties continue to generate the highest number of Ombudsman cases, while earlier warnings and recommendations have produced little visible improvement.