TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Another update on Orient Restaurants/Keys accepted

I walk by every day, hopeful for the opening!

Huhm, that's awfully nice--sarcasm intended--that the Collectivite isn't going to charge them rent until March 1, considering it probably will be about then before they can be open.

Similar thoughts. I was not impressed with what I read and would be a very reluctant recipient of keys.

Yeah, I don't know, I'm not sure what their options are at this point.

That sounds like they're required to put a huge amount of faith and trust in the government. A wise and knowing friend once told me, "it's not what they say, but what's written in the contract" that matters in the end. Good luck to all of them. The government would NEVER mislead them, I'm sure. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

The fact that Arnell is in charge is NOT good news.

Arnell is a pure politician, all talk, not much substance.

One can wonder what the Collectivité could do NOW that they couldn't have done BEFORE.

Probably near 100% true in any language or country.

Personally, the more I follow this the more of a screwed up mess it has the chance of being.

bet they'll charge them 2,000E which imho is still too much for what they're getting

As a visitor to the island it is very disheartening to see what has happened at Orient. What was a vibrant area for the owners and tourists alike ha been squeezed . The beach where the new buildings are is filled with seaweed and the buildings themselves ,in my opinion, add no value to the scene. I still do not understand why the Collective felt they needed to destroy the livelihood of so many, my heart goes out to all the vendors who have been displaced with no resolution in sight

I just looked at a bunch of pics of Orange Fever on Tripadvisor. Boy that place used to be a wonderful ramshackle place (with a terrible bathroom). Such crazy character will never be replicated. A shame that someone thought that things needed to be "improved."

I have withheld judgment on the whole project until now because originally I thought it might be a nice change / addition to Orient Beach. Well now, I think not so much. What a mess. The buildings are cookie cutters that have NO character, they're WAY to close to the beach & I can't believe that the buildings will be large enough for most of the businesses. And I didn't even mention the rents, politics etc. I still hope that I'm very wrong but.....

Sounds like one huge storm and these structures will be bobbing in the water. Why destroy something that worked for years, the character of Orient is gone

After reading the entire article, I think the french government is making it to difficult for the beach business's to survive and also, the first big storm will destroy their buildings. My opinion only, but, the building's look ugly. I think we are done with Orient.

It's no longer the French Gouvernement, and that's the main problem.

French St Martin partially broke off from France and has a sort of man-in-the-middle status. They had had enough of being managed via Guadeloupe, which is understandable.

You just have to look at the parking spaces in the street opposite the town hall to understand.

They all have their own reserved space, all up to the 4th Vice-President ..

The sad reality of the Caribbean is that most so-called "pro-independence" politicians are only in it to grab power and all that can me made from it, à la Duvalier.

Since their new status, infant mortality has increased on the French side of St Martin...

Running an Island is not a profitable business, if a country like France, the Netherlands or the US want to cash out to do it. I would not get in the way and nor would most inhabitants who don't want to break away.