Today In History: August 22

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NASSAU, BAHAMAS – On this day in Bahamian history, in 1964 – Kevin Peter Turnquest was born in Acklins. Turnquest is an accountant, businessman, politician and former deputy prime minister and minister of finance. 

Turnquest attended Hawksbill High School in Freeport, Grand Bahama and graduated from the Prairie View A&M University, in Texas. In the 2017 general election he ran as a candidate for East Grand Bahama constituency as a member of the Free National Movement (FNM) and won.

He was sworn in as DPM on May 15th that year. 

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Then August 22nd, 2012 – the FNM bid a final farewell to former cabinet minister and party chairman Charles Maynard in a memorial service at its headquarters on Mackey Street. 

Days before, Maynard was campaigning for the North Abaco by-election when he collapsed and died. Then party leader Dr. Hubert Minnis and former leader Hubert Ingraham remembered his life.

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In 2016 – nearly two weeks after the first confirmed case of Zika in The Bahamas. Health officials reported three new cases on New Providence. 

Pinewood Gardens and Carmichael Road were areas of top concern. At the time, there were 83 suspected cases eight of them were pregnant women. 

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In 2019 -public service workers battled the elements in a protest over government’s failure to pay a $1,200 lump sum totaling $20 million ahead of the new school year.

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And finally in 2020 – the country recorded its highest single day COVID death toll, as Acklins recorded its first case. 

At the time, the Ministry of Health confirmed five additional deaths which brought the death toll to 27. There were 1,703 confirmed cases, over 1,400 of them active with more than 1,000 on New Providence.