WILLEMSTAD – The years-long conflict between Hospital Nobo Otrobanda (HNO, the construction project that later became the Curaçao Medical Center) and contractor Ballast Nedam International has reached such a level of complexity that the Court of Appeals has ordered an independent expert investigation to untangle the dispute.

The case centers on costs and claims related to delays caused by the relocation of the hospital’s construction site from the Amstel terrain to Otrobanda. In an interim ruling on September 9, 2025, the Court determined that appointing one or more independent experts is necessary to bring clarity.

The Court has instructed both parties to submit a written proposal naming potential experts and suggesting the questions that should be put to them. The ruling also emphasized that the parties should attempt to agree in advance on the selection of experts. “It would be preferable if both sides reach consensus, particularly regarding the choice of expert,” the judgment stated.

A hearing has been scheduled for November 14, which the Court considers “desirable to achieve a better overview of the matter.”

The move to appoint external experts follows the effective sidelining of the Dispute Adjudication Board (DAB), which was originally created in 2013 to resolve conflicts during the hospital’s construction. While the DAB issued two separate rulings, both parties filed formal “notices of dissatisfaction.” As a result, neither party is bound by the DAB’s decisions, and the Court itself is not required to take those rulings into account when assessing the dispute.

The expert investigation is expected to provide the first comprehensive, neutral assessment of the financial and contractual disagreements that have plagued the project for more than a decade.