Canadian boost for EC municipalities

SIX Eastern Cape coastal municipalities are set to benefit from a multimillion-rand investment project dubbed the “Building Inclusive Green Municipalities (BIGM)” programme, spearheaded by the Canadian government.

The programme – a partnership between the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and South African Local Government Association (Salga), will see $5.8-million (about R79-million) invested in chosen municipalities.

It is set to benefit six rural councils forming part of the province’s 800km coastline, including King Sabatha Dalindyebo (KSD), Ngqushwa, Kouga, Ndlambe, Mbizana and Port St Johns local municipalities.

The province’s two metropolitan municipalities – Buffalo City and Nelson Mandela Bay – will also benefit as they would be used as “anchors” in the four-year project expected to commence in November and run until March 2021.

A Canadian delegation on a visit to the province this week said the programme aims to improve municipal capacity for effective service delivery, inclusive local green economic growth, as well as enhanced climate change mitigation and adaptation measures.

The delegation from Canada includes FCM’s climate change programmes manager Devin Causley, BIGM manager Edith Gingras, City of Lethbridge’s asset management director Joel Sanchez and Town of Innisfil’s economic development catalyst Dan Taylor.

They are in East London this week to meet Salga provincial bosses, representatives from benefiting municipalities and other stakeholders.

The Canadian’s BIGM inception team is expected to be in the province until Friday.

Speaking to the Daily Dispatch before their first meeting on Monday, Salga’s provincial board chairman Mxolisi Koyo urged participating councils to push for stability, saying if such municipalities were not stable, “the programme will not succeed”.

Koyo said the BIGM programme aims to contribute to South Africa’s priorities for reducing poverty, supporting economic growth, and responding to climate change by transitioning to a low-carbon economy.

He said the programme will also pilot economic development initiatives, “to promote job creation, poverty reduction, and enhanced wellbeing, while empowering women, youth and vulnerable groups, and ensuring their inclusion as decisionmakers and beneficiaries”.

The programme will see municipal officials being trained in how to respond to climate change by transitioning to a low-carbon economy. This includes generating renewable energy from waste.

They will also be capacitated on how to use green technology when building houses in future, while, as part of the programme, local women and youth would be trained in design and implementation of the local economic development initiatives.

The rest of the 39 provincial municipalities, Koyo said, will also benefit “as the skills and good practices will also be shared with them”. —