Today in History: August 27

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THE BAHAMAS – On August 27, 1753, Charles Marshall became the 7th speaker of the House of Assembly. He left office in 1760. The first speaker of the House of Assembly of The Bahamas was appointed in 1729 following the establishment of the General Assembly by Woodes Rogers.

In 2013, Commodore of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force Roderick Bowe broke his silence over allegations of abuse of Cuban detainees in The Bahamas. Bowe stated that while this incident had drawn the most attention he had seen in his 31 years on the Defence Force, the organization would not succumb to international pressures. This was the first time Bowe publicly addressed the matter since a video appeared on social media purporting to show Cuban detainees being abused at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre. The matter made international headlines and led to several Defence Force officers being investigated.

In 2019, junior doctors ramped up their days-long protests by marching from Princess Margaret Hospital to Rawson Square. As the junior doctors’ strike dragged on, then Minister of Health Dr. Duane Sands stated that the current state of the healthcare system was “not sustainable” as nearly 70 percent of the doctors in the country were participating in the withdrawal of services. Roughly 420 doctors on New Providence and Grand Bahama withdrew their services. The withdrawal came more than eight months after the doctors voted to strike. The key issues were holiday pay, with the union claiming that the doctors were not being paid for working on holidays.