Since its reopening two months ago, Lake Mainstay Resort is still recovering from the hard knocks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although only a restricted amount of visitors are allowed on the resort, Lake Mainstay still caters for scores of guests on weekends.
On November 6, the resort was given the go-ahead to reopen for persons overnighting after eight months of closure. A month later with the permission of the Ministry of Health, they also welcomed back day trippers.
During the period the resort was shuttered, all thirty-three of its staff were laid off. Several persons responsible for the maintenance and security of the premises were kept on and were tasked with doing periodic checks on the resort. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the resort, Wilfred Jagnarine had previously told Stabroek News that he was unable to pay those employees who were furloughed until the reopening of the resort. Bills, he had said then, were being paid out-of-pocket. Now that the resort has been up and running for couple months, measures are being taken to pay these persons. Jagnarine said that it was only on Wednesday that he took care of payments for the months of July and August. However, these employees are yet to be paid for September and October, which he noted is a smaller amount in total and won’t be difficult for him to do.
With the recommencement of business, the CEO had to seek new employees as a lot of the staff during the time the resort was shuttered, had gone looking for jobs elsewhere and many went into the mines. So far, Lake Mainstay has re-employed about sixty percent of its staff which is only as much as they can cater for, for the time being. As it relates to payment for staffers since the reopening, he said that there are no outstanding payments as the resort has managed to stay up-to-date with salaries. This also includes the paying of their bills and taxes, he had added.
Jagnarine went on to acknowledge the village council and the captain of Mainstay village as well as the Ministry of Health for permitting the reopening the resort. He noted that for the first two weeks they were only allowed thirty day trippers per day. The benabs at the resort, Jagnarine said, can accommodate as many as six hundred day trippers a day and they had requested that 25% of this total be granted as the resort is capable of catering for this amount and still maintain social distancing guidelines. Over the holidays, they were able to extend their amount of day trippers to forty then sixty. Following the holidays the resort was granted the one hundred and twenty persons per day as was initially requested.
“Once they are within the group they came with, they are not required to social distance among themselves but from other groups they would be expected to. However, if someone decides to visit the bar where there will be other visitors, they are required to wear their mask as well as social distance which they do,” Jagnarine said. He further shared that the cabins at the resort cater for a hundred and sixty persons but on two weekends during the holidays, they saw eighty persons overnighting. Since then and prior to then, the resort has had about thirty to forty persons on average who would overnight on weekends. The cabins are also available for as little as four hours which the CEO explained are usually for families or groups coming from Georgetown or far off areas and could use the rest.
Part of the reason for needing the permission from the village council and the captain in the reopening of the resort, Jagnarine disclosed, was because the village was a hotspot for COVID-19. According to him, since the resort reopened, there hasn’t been a report of any confirmed cases. “It’s a positive thing happening in the village and I hope it can stay that way,” said Jagnarine.
To ensure they stay within the permitted amount of guests, all persons are required to make reservations prior to arrival. Guests are also expected to follow all the required COVID guidelines.
