GREAT BAY--National Recovery Program Bureau Director Claret Connor is expected to be sworn in as the country’s next Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor, VSA, potentially as early as next week.
Information obtained by The People’s Tribune indicates that Connor has successfully completed the screening process conducted by the relevant authorities, clearing an important requirement ahead of his appointment. A final date for the swearing-in ceremony is expected to be set in consultation with the Governor.
Connor will replace former VSA Minister Richinel Brug, who was removed following an 8-7 vote of no confidence in Parliament on May 29, 2026. Prime Minister Dr. Luc Mercelina has been carrying responsibility for the VSA portfolio in an acting capacity since Brug’s departure.
Connor’s appointment will mark his second period as a member of the Council of Ministers, although he previously managed two different portfolios during the same Cabinet term.
He was sworn in as Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication, TEATT, on December 19, 2014, as part of the Cabinet led by then Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs. During his tenure, Connor was responsible for several areas central to the country’s economy, including tourism, aviation, cruise development, public transportation, telecommunications and business affairs.
On September 7, 2015, Connor was sworn in as Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure, VROMI, after previously serving as Minister of TEATT. He held the VROMI portfolio until the Gumbs Cabinet was replaced on November 19, 2015.
Before entering the Council of Ministers, Connor worked in the hospitality sector and served as Executive Director of the St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce and Industry. His private-sector background included experience in tourism, economic development and institutional management.
The Council of Ministers appointed Connor Director of the NRPB on January 9, 2019. In that role, he became responsible for coordinating and implementing projects under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and the St. Maarten Trust Fund, which is financed by the Netherlands and managed by the World Bank.
Under Connor’s leadership, the NRPB has managed a broad portfolio of recovery, infrastructure, institutional development and social projects. Several of those initiatives have required close collaboration with the Ministry of VSA.
These include work on St. Maarten’s Integrated Social Registry System, which is intended to improve the way government identifies and assists vulnerable residents, as well as projects connected to mental-health services and the development of a new mental-health facility.
The experience gives Connor prior familiarity with several matters that will fall directly under his responsibility as VSA minister, including healthcare infrastructure, social protection, labor, institutional reform and the management of externally funded projects.
His expected appointment comes as the VSA Ministry faces several major policy and financial challenges. These include the financial condition of the healthcare insurance funds, preparations for General Health Insurance, healthcare staffing, medical referrals abroad, labor-market reform, social assistance and the continued development of the St. Maarten General Hospital and mental-health services.
Connor will also assume responsibility for ongoing discussions concerning the healthcare funds managed by Social and Health Insurances, SZV, which had accumulated combined negative reserves of approximately XCG 494.2 million by the end of 2024.
The transition from the NRPB to VSA will create a vacancy at the recovery bureau, which has played a central role in the implementation of World Bank-managed Trust Fund projects since Hurricane Irma. It has not yet been announced who will assume responsibility for the NRPB following Connor’s departure.
