MAYOR of Linden, Waneka Arrindell, has embarked on a mission to transform the town into a sustainable one, through the realisation of Sustainable Development Goals. This initiative was birthed from the mayor’s recent visit to Lilongwe Malawi, Africa, last month.

The mayor said that her participation in the mayors’ conference was an informative one on how cities and towns can start adopting the Sustainable Development Goals within their townships and she is determined to put what she has learnt into practice.

“It was a great learning curve for me and now that I am back, I am looking to see how the council can come on board with the Sustainable Development Goals and start to do things within the township that are sustainable….the knowledge will be put back into Linden,” she said.
“I think it is necessary for the town of Linden to come on board and understand what those Sustainable Development Goals are,” she said.

There are 17 Sustainable Development Goals that were adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 2015. The approach is a ‘leave-no-one behind’ one and emphasises a holistic approach to achieving sustainable development for all and aims at a 2030 achievement, especially for Third World countries. 2016 was the first year of implementation of the goals.

These include: no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure, reduced inequality, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, climate action, life below water, life and land, peace and justice, strong institutions and partnerships to achieve the goals.

Implement waste management and reduce poverty
Out of the 17, Mayor Arrindell said that the municipality will be prioritising poverty elimination and transforming Linden into a sustainable city through solid-waste management. She was able to see first-hand, how the city of Lilongwe uses garbage to generate revenue through effective solid-waste management. The women there she said process and package the garbage into compost to create manure and sell it to farms. It is also used as renewable energy.

Arrindell is passionate about bringing this initiative to Linden. “What can we do as a town? Everybody has to come on board, not just the municipality…. what we can do as a town to increase jobs, to do anything as it relates to the decrease in poverty in this regard,” Arrindell reasoned.

To commence sensitisation, the mayor and team will be embarking on a radio programme on Thursdays at 14:00hrs, educating residents on the solid-waste programme and encouraging them to come on board. Residents will also be encouraged to become smart consumers of electricity and water and to even switch to renewable energy.

To tackle poverty, Arrindell believes that the most effective way is through an educated population. Therefore, the municipality will be establishing literacy hubs across Linden to target students. The hubs that will be established in communities across Linden, are expected to be internet-ready as well.

The One Mile School and Linden Care Foundation have already indicated their willingness to allocate spaces for the hub.

While the David Granger 5 Bs initiative is allowing many students to get to school regularly across Region 10, it has been noted that the literacy level amongst students are low. Arrindell, who is a teacher by profession, has noted this. Parents also will be targeted in this project so that they can assist their children at home.

These parents also cannot afford extra lessons for their children and therefore the programmes that will be offered at the hubs will be free for the students, but the municipality is currently seeking sponsors for the programme.

Proceeds from the Mayor’s Ball, which was held during the Linden Town Week in April, were expected to go towards the project. While Arrindell’s tenure is only eight months, she is hoping that these Sustainable Development Goal projects get underway to the point of seeing transformation of the communities within Linden.