WILLEMSTAD – The new National Ordinance on Games of Chance (LOK) has been approved by the Council of Ministers of Curaçao. This became clear in the Memorandum of Finance that was presented in the draft budget for 2023. Finance Minister Javier Silvania announced via social media that he was pleased with the decision.
According to Silvania, the new LOK law will create a lot of employment with good salaries. In addition, the minister thinks that the Curaçao economy will diversify more with the new law, which is good for the labor market and real estate.
The new law must now first pass through the advisory bodies before it is sent to parliament for approval. The draft budget shows that the government will earn a lot of money from the new law. The explanation states that a license fee for games of chance provider is based on 5,000 guilders per month for 500 licenses. In addition, there will be a one-off registration fee of 10,000 guilders for the existing 500 licenses and 30,000 guilders for new applicants. The explanatory memorandum states that from the entry into force of the new law, the government can expect revenues of around forty million guilders.
The implementation of the legislation is in the hands of the Gaming Control Board (GCB). However, the collection of the fee is done by the Ministry of Finance. The supervision of the gaming sector is carried out by Curacao Gaming Authority (CGA). The minister says that the new LOK law will support the sports world. Part of the income goes directly to a sports fund of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport (OWCS).
Bron: Curacao Chronicle