– Deputy Toshao
THE Mainstay/Whyaka Amerindian Community has witnessed extensive development over the past few years, due, in part, to Government initiatives and support from various non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The Deputy Toshao, Mr. Joel Fredericks made the report in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle last Sunday, during the 10th Annual Regatta staged at Lake Mainstay Resort on Essequibo Coast.
“We have seen a lot of improvement here, which the members of the community are benefitting from, the most recent is the new housing scheme called Princeville,” he said.
Fredericks said, the Government of Guyana, has been accelerating the development of Amerindians through partnering with various organisations and the communities and collaborated with Food for the Poor Inc and Roetheli Lil’ Red Foundation to provide housing, education, water and sanitation in Mainstay/Whyaka.
The project saw the construction of 65 houses and sanitary blocks, one trading store and the Lake Mainstay Primary School was rehabilitated and extended to house the nursery school and headteacher’s office. It also involved the installation of two sanitation blocks.
As to the benefits of these additions, Fredericks noted that the lives of all the residents have been improved since the completion of the project last June.
Alluding to the access to education in the village, he pointed out that, at present, there are no deficiencies in this area as the children have access to a proper school which is adequately staffed.
“In our school, the majority of the teachers are from Mainstay so we do not have a problem in terms of there being enough teachers in school and they were trained at the Cyril Potter College of Education,” Fredericks added.
He highlighted that there has also been additional development as the community promotes organic farming and has a processing factory to prepare the pineapples for export.
“I want to encourage people to come and see organic pineapple farming which is part of our eco-tourism. Hundreds of acres are planted and we take them to the factory to process for export to Europe,” Fredericks invited.
Concerns
However, despite the many improvements, there are still some areas of concern to the residents there, he said.
Fredericks said those include the completion of the seven miles long access road, improving health services, unemployment and school dropouts which continue to plague the community.
He said: “We need to see the road completed, because we are involved in tourism here and the condition is terrible. We really need that road to be fixed as early as possible, so that we can expand.”
To date, 3.5 miles have been rehabilitated and the remaining section is still posing a problem for the villagers who use it on a daily basis.
As it relates to the high school dropout rate, Fredericks acknowledged that 40 per cent of youths are early school leavers, due, in part, to the fact that the parents are unemployed and cannot afford to send their children to school.
Added to this, the Health Centre in the village is in dire need of medication, although a Community Health Worker is permanently stationed there.
“In terms of health care, I think we need some more help in this area. We do not have enough medication and, if we do, it is not the right ones. Dawn Pearson is the Community Health Worker who recently came out of training but we need some help there,” he implored.
Fredericks maintained, though, that the more than 400 residents in the community remain thankful for all of the developments which have greatly improved their lives and that of their children and look forward to seeing more growth in the area.