The "Beach Eviction by Force" Story

Entrance to Bikini Beach carries tape to keep visitors out.

It was an ordinary day.  Except for the fact that Elise and Phillipe were evicted!  Back on Tuesday, May 14 of this year I posted a story about the Bikini Beach Bar and the Kon Tiki Beach Bar on the island of St. Martin.  Seems they were in a bitter battle with a Mr. Norbert Luftman who is the owner of a business named Sindextour.  Years ago the French Government awarded Luftman an AOT (Authorisation d'Occpation Temporaire) which gave him control of World famous Orient Beach.  He constructed five beach bars and named  them the "5 Stars of Orient."  They were known as Bikini Beach, Kon Tiki Beach, Coco Beach, Waikiki Beach and Kakoa Beach. They all operated independently, but paid Mr. Luftman for the use of the bars.  Elise Cohen was the owner of Bikini Beach Bar and Phillipe Just owned Kon Tiki.  In 2009 Mr. Luftman lost the AOT, but continued to collect the $120,000 yearly fee from all the owners.  In 2011, when Elise found out, she and Phillipe stopped paying him and paid the money to the French Government.  She then sued him for the two years she paid him the money.  She then applied to the Government herself for the AOT for the property that was known as AW33.  Soon after Mr. Luftman did also.  Somehow he was awarded the new AOT and had another beach bar set up next to the Original Bikini Beach Bar.  

The Original Bikini Beach which I enjoy visiting.

New bar was also called Bikini Beach Bar, since he claimed to have the legal rights to the name.  Then the legal wrangling began in the French Courts.  There remained two Bikini Beach Bars with both open for business.  Sindextour submitted a request to the administrative court at the beginning of 2013 to have the tenants evicted and finally on April 5, 2012, legal papers were delivered to Elise and Phillipe to have them evicted.  They had two months to leave.  Didn't happen!  The eviction was postponed until June 15 and then again until September 2, all because of the lag in the legal proceedings.  Since there was a related case against Mr. Luftman and a few of the politicians that had to do with him getting the AOT scheduled to be heard in court on September 11, Cohen thought they would be allowed to keep operating until after that date.  Well, Tuesday, September 3rd, two French Policemen, known as Gendarmes, and two huissiers served the eviction order.  The two beach bar owners were given one month to remove everything from their buildings.  The electricity and gas were cut off and locks were placed on the doors of the bars.  The workers were asked to leave the properties.  It was reported that the evictions of the two businesses seems to have become a personal vendetta between the two huissiers, the vice prosecutor, and the lawyer who is representing  Bikini Beach and Kon Tiki Beach.  What a mess!  What's going to happen?  I guess Carol and I will find out when we return to Orient Beach next Spring. Maybe by then both places will be gone and new ones will be standing in their places.  Or, could be both beach bars will be back operating as usual.  My guess is that the later will not be the likely choice, since money seems to have quite a bit of influence in the matter and whenever that happens, the wealthiest seem to survive the longest.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of a ordinary guy.