The Catholic University College of Ghana (CUCG) chapter of the Student In Life Enterprise (SIFE), an educational network, has constructed a GH¢2,400 bakery at Mantukwa in the Sunyani West District.

The facility is to empower and provide skill training to 14 women in the community.

Inaugurating the facility at Mantukwa on Wednesday, Mr. Nana Akoto, local SIFE President, said as part of its outreach programme for 2011/12, the Enterprise launched the Mantukwa Community Empowerment Programme (MANCEP) to help reduce the level of poverty in the community.

He said the programme was an integrated one consisting of three components; Mantukwa Community Computer Education Center, Mantukwa Community Bakery and the Mantukwa Community Woodlots.

The overall objective of the programmes is to empower the people especially school children and women with relevant knowledge and income generation skills and services.

Mr. Akoto said under the computer project, SIFE was expecting to bring computer access and education to more than 300 school children and 1,000 community members.

The bakery also seeks to improve the income levels of the women while the community woodlots is aimed at increasing the tree cover of the area as well as provide fuel wood for the bakery project and other domestic purposes.

He said the Enterprise had provided the women with two bags of flour, a bag of sugar, nutmeg powder, baking pans, bags of margarine and other bakery materials as a startup capital.

Mr. Akoto said funding for all these projects was obtained from contributions of local members of SIFE and appealed to businessmen, philanthropists, non-governmental organisations and corporate institutions and organizations to support the projects.

Mrs. Vida Korang, a lecturer at the CUCG and local faculty advisor of SIFE, appealed to the women to make good use of the facility and take the training serious.

Mr. Patrick Adu Boahen, Assemblyman for Mantukwa expressed concern about the high level of poverty in the area and expressed the hope that, the bakery project would create jobs for more women in the community.**