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PHILIPSBURG — Minister Richinel Brug (Public Health, Social Development and Labor, or VSA) stands firm in his decision not to step down from his position and not to give up his membership of the United Resilient St. Maarten Movement (URSM). He reacted to a letter from URSM’s board president, attorney Brenda Brooks to step down with a detailed 12-page letter that sheds light on the ugly things that are going on behind the scenes at the party that was founded by former surgeon and current Prime Minister Dr. Luc Mercelina,
Brooks wrote to Brug that the party had taken the decision to “formally withdraw its support” from his position in the party and the government. Brooks added that the URSM no longer recognizes Brug as a member. “We have lost all confidence in your ability to effectively serve in your ministerial capacity.”
Brooks’ letter speaks of unresolved issues, conflicting roles related to his chief of staff Suëna Laville-Martis and actions that allegeldly undermined the integrity and proper functioning of the prime minister.
Minister Brug hit back: “Your letter is based on assumptions, unfounded allegations and a blatant disregard for the truth. Your letter makes references to confidential internal information that could only be obtained through leaks by the prime minister.”
The VSA-minister also attacked Brooks’ integrity, saying that she placed two people in his cabinet “with the explicit instruction to gather information against me to have me removed from my position within three months. You are also the key architect of the campaign against my chief of staff.”
The URSM-president furthermore alleges that Brug made statements “that contradict and at times challenge the policies and authority of Prime Minister Mercelina. This has eroded further trust and confidence.”
To which Brug replied: “The only public statement I have made was about the unlawful and unsubstantiated measures taken against my chief of staff. Those measures were taken unilaterally by prime minister and party leader Mercelina.”
Brooks then accused Minister Brug of “potential conflicts of interest” between his cabinet and “the company of the husband of your chief of staff.”
Said husband is former Member of Parliament Romain Laville. Brug notes that there are no conflicting roles in his cabinet and that Laville was contracted to conduct a specific time-limited assessment of the NRPB Mental Health Project (MHP) – commissioned under World Bank project ID P177679. “It was completed within the allocated timeframe and a budget of 48,150 guilders ($26,899).”
Minister Brug signed a contract with Laville’s company CZAR Management and Consulting on February 4, 2025. Reacting to the allegation that he refused to give Prime Minister Mercelina a copy of the CZAR-contract, Brug wrote: “I did not decline to provide that contract. Instead, I referred him to the DIV which falls under his own ministry and where the contract is duly recorded.”
The minister said that allegations that payments to CZAR “exceeded 83,000 guilders ($46,368)” are “entirely false and without substantiation.”
Another allegation levied by Brooks against Minister Brug is that he meddled in the appointment of an adjunct director at Social and Health Insurances SZV. “The selected candidate was blocked to allow the husband of one of your ministry’s department heads to be appointed, even though he had not achieved the highest score.”
Due to all this (and a host of other allegations), Brooks wrote that there is now an “irreparable breakdown” in the relationship between de party and the minister, to which Brug replied: “I disagree. Relationships can be repaired where there is mutual respect and genuine commitment to the public interest.”
Asking for Brug’s immediate resignation, Brooks notes that the leadership of URSM is “anchored in accountability, integrity and a unified commitment to serve the people of St. Maarten.”
The minister had plenty of ammunition to contradict that statement. He wrote that PM Mercelina’s first action was to bring in Hensley Plantijn as a legal advisor, while he was well aware of the fact that Plantijn had been dismissed by the previous administration and that legal proceedings were still ongoing. Furthermore, Aarti Baran, charged by the PM to draft the BIG legislation was “engaged without a formal tendering process.”
Maybe the worst of all is Brug’s remark that points to a reign of terror by PM Mercelina. “There is discomfort among civil servants and one senior civil servant has asked to work from home when the prime minister is Acting Minister of VSA.”
Brug said that he brought all these issues to the attention of the URSM-board in April 2025 but that he received no response.
That the minister is disappointed in the treatment he received from his own party is an understatement: “The board has from the outset of my tenure repeatedly leaked false information in an effort to tarnish my reputation and to build public support for an eventual vote of no confidence. Every allegation brought against me is false, unsupported by substantiated documentation and cannot begin to compare to the severity of the documented allegations against the prime minister. It is therefore not my intention to resign as minister or as a member of the URSM.”
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Related articles:
Opinion piece – Backbone
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