A man was shot in Caye Caulker on Thursday night and it's all because of a fiberglass operation dispute in the island village. At around midnight on Thursday last week Bert Nicholas was inside his boat when shots rang out. When he roused himself he realized he'd been shot in the left leg.
That's the latest episode in a story that began at least 5 years ago. At the time a piece of land was leased to Earl Smith Jr. who started a fiberglass boat-building operation and as that happened, trouble began. Neighbors complain that the operation has caused them illness and discomfort to the point where now they just want the fiberglass work to stop and those doing it to leave. Eugenia Aguilar a neighbor to Smith has exhausted all her recourses and today she visited us as a last resort. Here's her story.
Eugenia Aguilar, Caye Caulker Resident
"We got sick from it. We have a doctor's paper. We have been going to the health department, we've been going to the Ministry of Environment, we went to the village council, the chairman; we've been pushing this issue for a very long while and no one wants to do anything about it.
The big issue is the dust, it affected us, concerning our throat and sinus. We had bleeding in our throats, we had to take medication; for about eight months we were under medication and the medication is not cheap, it is expensive. We were constantly with that sickness, myself and my common-law, and now it is reached to a point that we can't stay home when he is working with that fiberglass and it is almost everyday he is sanding back there with that fiber glass.
The land that he leasing is just right next door to mine, its my aunt's property - it is just a very small spot that he is leasing from my aunt but it is right at the corner of my property as well and it is only a few feet from my bedroom.
This guy went over to confront him one day concerning the fiber glass because it was a cold front and you know the wind coming in from the west part of the island, it was blowing all the fiber glass up on top inside the house. We went to confront the guy. The guy got pissed, he went, he looked like he went drinking that night, and went after the guy and fired shots at the guy to kill him. I think he let go about five different shots, his bullets went through and through the boat and the shots grazed his legs. He was charged for attempted murder and he got four years in jail for it.
He is out of the way but everything is still there. It looks like the boat yard is operating. I don't know if he left his worker in charge or who is in charge of it but everything is still there. They are still operating on the boat yard and the thing is, the reason why I'm here is I want that boat yard to be shut down. We are getting sick, the fiberglass is affecting us, we can't stay home, we don't even have a life right now."
On Friday Earl Smith Jr. was arraigned in San Pedro Magistrate's Court where he pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault and one count of wounding. He was sentenced to two years for each offence to be served concurrently meaning he'll serve two years in jail. Meanwhile the owner of the property where the fiberglass work is done has given the tenants notice to vacate the premises which they are yet to heed.
