Béziers Market Halls: Former Cafe Owner Raymond Garcia Opens Online Fund to Attack Mayor and Biltoki Company

Raymond Garcia a été derrière le zinc du Marina pendant 35 ans. DR

Behind the zinc of the Marina for 35 years, in the heart of the Béziers market halls, Raymond Garcia was excluded from the project to renew the site designed by Biltoki, the service provider chosen by the City. After the shock, the now retired man decided to sue to obtain compensation.

“We invested money, time. We were there every day. Some had large turnovers. So it's a considerable loss“, Raymond Garcia now analyses, with a little hindsight.

Owner of the Le Marina bar for 35 years, in the heart of the municipal halls of Béziers, he was asked to leave the premises last February, when major renovation work began. Except that he was unable to apply for the new project; Biltoki, the service provider chosen by the City to revitalize the premises, has its own café there. Above all, Raymond Garcia was unable to sell the business as he had planned to do. The compensation paid by the town hall seemed derisory to him… After the shock, he decided to defend himself to obtain compensation. He has just created a crowdfunding kitty on the online platform Leetchi with the aim of financing legal proceedings against the mayor of Béziers and the Biltoki company. The precise reason for the summons to appear before the criminal court has not been communicated. A Montpellier lawyer should work on the case if the former cafe owner manages to raise the necessary funds…

An online kitty “Halles historiques de Béziers”

The participatory kitty "Historic Halls of Béziers" is online on the Leetchi.com website. Everyone can make a donation. It will remain open for 3 months. Raymond Garcia hopes to collect 12,000 euros.

"A merchant from the market halls took out a loan of 60,000 euros for his stall, a year before all this, he was unable to recover anything. It's unthinkable", continues Raymond Garcia. As for the sale, in 2022, of the restaurant in the market halls "Baldo and Maria" in completely different conditions… She is the talk of the town today.

"There would be eight former engaged in the approach", Raymond Garcia further specifies. An association “Historical Halls of Béziers” should be created. As a reminder, of the 22 former traders, only 7 will be part of the Biltoki adventure. "And even for those who bounced back, it's unsustainable."

“He was compensated on the basis of his tax returns”

"Raymond Garcia was compensated on the same basis as all other traders, that is to say, based on his tax returns", simply replies the mayor of Béziers, Robert Ménard. It was a commission chaired by the vice-president of the Order of Chartered Accountants of Occitanie that supervised the famous compensation paid by the City of Béziers to traders to compensate for the loss of business during the nine months of work. “In the signed agreement protocol, Raymond Garcia had also undertaken not to initiate legal proceedings”, the chief magistrate further emphasizes.

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