Bakery at Mainstay/Whyaka to employ women

Women in Mainstay/Whyaka will soon start benefitting from the establishment of a bakery, that will provide financial empowerment.

While visiting the community recently, Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Oneidge Walrond was given a tour of the newly completed building by former Toshao and current Chairwoman of the Mainstay Women’s Development Group, Yvonne Pearson.   

Pearson is proud of the facility and the benefits it will offer women of the community.

“We will have baked goods and we will also have a canteen. We aim to do our own juices with fruits from our own farm, and the bakery. We want to be a little different, we know that there would be competition. We are looking at promoting local goods, we are looking at showing that we can do with cassava flour and wheaten flour,” she stated.

The village is expected to commission a cassava processing facility soon, which will help supply the bakery.

The group’s aim, she stated, is to provide healthy food for residents at a reasonable cost and supply the Lake Mainstay Resort, small businesses, and even supermarkets with their produce.

The bakery, which will be called “Shaundel’s Bakery,” is named in honour of the late Chairwoman of the group, Shaundel Fernandes.

A contract valued at $𝟕𝟕,𝟕𝟏𝟔,𝟔𝟕𝟒, was signed in March between the Government of Guyana through the Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF) and Faldhari Singh & Son Contracting Service for the Bakery at Mainstay and an Eco Restaurant at Mashabo, on the Essequibo Coast, Under the Women and Vulnerable Groups Empowerment SUB Project.

The bakery is expected to be opened in September.

The Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce has provided several months of extensive technical support and training in areas like digital marketing, tourism, and customer service to further enhance the skillset.