St. Maarten News – Businessman Julian Rollocks has asked his attorneys to help him remove tenants from a Tiki hut at Kim Sha Beach. Dino Arrundell and his wife had until yesterday to leave.
Arrundell, whose wife manages the Tiki hut and its barbeque pit, has indicated “that Rollocks is apparently jealous because of the business that they are doing” and that he has tried everything to get them off the property where they started in 2012.
Arrundell recently paved the ground near the Tiki hut. At first there was no problem but when he recently paved the last piece of three and a half feet by eight feet, it was the final straw for Rollocks who felt that the tenants had violated the lease agreement. He sent Arrundell a letter dated February 24, to leave the property as of yesterday.
“We have a vending permit for the location and we are renting his hut,” Arrundell said. “We do not want to stop this operation because this is something we want to do for the long term. Right now we are at an impasse because the land belongs to the government.”
The Tiki hut operator says that “somewhere in government there are persons who want to turn over the land to Julian Rollocks, even though government has an extensive project for the entire property.”
Arrundell says he rents the hut for $1000 per month and that he pays his rent on time. “All we want is to continue with our operation.” He says his business gets very positive reviews on Trip Advisor. “I am not asking for anything big. I am operating on 17’x30’ that is what I want.”
Rollocks has provided documentation from the Vromi-ministry that issued two warnings to Arrundell, saying he violated the rules by concreting the place. Rollocks also advised the Rent Committee about the violation and has asked for the removal of the Arrundell family from his hut.
Rollocks’ attorney Roland Duncan stated in a letter to Arrundell that the violations and the warnings from the Vromi-ministry have dissolved the lease agreement with immediate effect.
Rollocks wrote in a letter to Arrundell that he was made aware of illegal construction on government lease land. He also cited the letter from Vromi that gave Arrundell ten days to remove the concrete from the hut, or have it removed at his expense.
Rollocks also asked Arrundell to come in and pay his rent, saying that he was delinquent in his payments.
Tiki hut operator fights eviction
