The Civil Services of Curaçao
December 18, 2024
I thought it was about time I focused on one of my specialisms: the civil service apparatus. The system, as we know it today, was established in 2010 and has the autonomous status of Curaçao. It was designed over two years, but the implementation was far from triumphant. The primary issues? Staffing, particularly at the top, and the development of procedures. The procedures were incomplete back then, and the question is whether they have been finalized fifteen years later. The apparatus, instead, has increasingly become a black box.
For instance, in the past, everyone knew who headed a department or ministry. Today, hardly anyone does—me included. That is why I want to map out the apparatus again, both for you and with you. The immediate trigger for this reflection came from something I read in Antilliaans Dagblad on December 16, 2024: the idea to create a Ministry for the Elderly in response to the aging population. This idea has already garnered enthusiastic support among laypersons.
But before I address that proposal, let’s revisit the current system. Curaçao’s civil service operates on a divisional or departmental structure, also known as a concern model, consisting of nine ministries. These ministries are the units. A divisional structure splits an organization into self-contained units or divisions, with each responsible for its own performance. Divisions can be organized based on factors like product lines, geographic markets, or customer demographics.
In Curaçao, the ministries are organized around product or service lines. Creating a unit specifically for the elderly based on customer demographics would further distort the apparatus. Worse, it won’t work. Policies for the elderly cut across all ministries and require an interdepartmental approach and coordinated policy management.
For example, adapting public transportation for the elderly would fall under the Ministry of VVRP. This single issue alone highlights why such policies cannot be siloed into one “elderly” ministry.
The core problem here is once again exposed: the apparatus results from a complete lack of administrative and organizational expertise, including among the external advisors involved. This proposal reflects, yet again, a failure to understand how governance and organizational systems truly work.
Miguel Goede
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