WILLEMSTAD – The absence of structured maintenance planning has significantly increased the cost of managing Curaçao’s government buildings, according to a critical review of public property management.
The report notes that maintenance is often carried out reactively, rather than preventively. As a result, small defects escalate into major structural problems, requiring expensive repairs or rendering buildings unusable.
In several cases, maintenance budgets were either insufficient or not spent effectively due to unclear responsibilities between ministries and managing entities. Some buildings were found to lack basic safety certifications, including fire safety approvals.
Experts warn that without multi-year maintenance plans and dedicated funding, the government risks accelerating decay of its real estate portfolio, ultimately forcing higher capital expenditures or emergency relocations.