Transitioning to Green…Linden Mayor proposes solar street lighting, other initiatives

Jan 15, 2018 News

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By Enid Joaquin

Mayor Carwyn Holland has highlighted several areas for consideration in the quest towards the Town’s imminent transition to a “Green Economy”.
Among the proposed initiatives are Solar Street Lighting, Green Office Operations, a Solar Factory and Roof top Solar Photo Voltaic Systems.

STREET LIGHTING
With regard to street lighting, it was suggested that Linden immediately moves from incandescent lights to 100 percent Solar Street Lamps.
The advantages in this, Holland pointed out are that there would be tremendous savings of revenue for the municipality as there would be reduced fossil fuel consumption, improved security and the creation of employment through the servicing and maintenance of these solar systems.

HYDRO-POWER
Holland proposed the development of Hydro Power utilising the Linden/Tiger Hill Falls for the production of 25 or more megawatts of power which could provide electricity for Linden with the excess possibly being sold off to the Eco Norte Transmission Grid in Brazil if feasible.

GREEN OFFICE
It was further suggested in the proposal, that all Government offices in Linden implement a strategy to utilise more networking via the internet and thus minimise the need for printing.
It goes without saying that reliable internet services would be required, Holland stressed.
The use of CCTV cameras and alarms for security purposes instead of lights being left on was another strategy cited to promote the greening of Offices.

MEETING
Head of the Office of Climate Change, Janelle Christian subsequently held a meeting on Tuesday last, with Mayor Holland, Mayor elect Waneka Arrendel and Councillors, whom she engaged in talks on the proposed greening of Linden.
A press conference was later held where Christian explained to the media,
“Greening is about changing the way we pursue our development to ensure that it’s done more sustainably with no harm to environment, so as to ensure that we use our resources efficiently, protecting it for future generations and also ensuring equity”.
According to Christian, the meeting with the outgoing Mayor and Town Council was to gain a better understanding of the projections and plans for the town.
The whole objective, she said, is to better shape and consolidate the pilot “greening” project, with the hope that it would be financed under the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
The proposal for the three-year project is expected to be approved by the end of March.
Christian said that the “greening” Concept had started off with Bartica which had been dubbed the first model “Green Town”.
The main objective of her visit was to pilot a similar project in Linden, where the Mayor had already signalled his enthusiasm for such a venture.
According to Christian, her office had started off working with Bartica, but that President David Granger had said that the expectation is that what was done in Bartica, would be replicated in other parts of the country.
“So it was that in 2018, the office of Climate Change identified the Town of Linden and another Municipality to forge a closer working relationship with the respective Municipalities to collaborate with them to get an idea of their priorities, with respect to both their short and long term plans to transition to green.”
The climate office is working to ensure that there are low emissions and more efficiency, within the various sectors, such as transport, energy, solid waste management, waste water and water management Christian said.
She added that it was the intention of her office to work closely with the Municipality.

Financing
Since 2015 her office has been working with the United Nations Development Programme (NDP) to consolidate a national project or proposal for Financing under the GEF, Christian pointed out.

Responsibility
The Office of Climate Change is the national agency responsible for shaping climate change policy with respect to Adaptation, Mitigation and Resilience Building.
It has a responsibility to ensure that national plans are also implemented at regional and local levels. Building institutional capacity, addressing legislative policy gaps and implementing community pilots with respect to energy efficiency and renewable energy are also areas that would be looked at according to Christian.
Mayor Holland said that the Town is ready to go Green. “Linden needs to go green on the fact that for years we’ve been doing bauxite mining, but we need to go look in the areas of energy efficiency.”
He expressed satisfaction that his proposal for the “greening” of the Town had found favour with the Climate Change Agency.
Meanwhile, works are currently in progress on the proposed Green Space Project on Casaurina Drive.
The area was recently cleared of vegetation in proximity to the Centennial Arch on Casaurina Drive. The project, which commenced a few months ago, is estimated at some $20M.
The first phase of the project includes the construction of a base around the Centennial arch, clearing of the thick vegetation around the area and also back- filling of the land. Holland in an earlier interview had revealed that the $20M for this first phase of the project was approved by the Ministry of Communities, but that the final estimate of the entire project is yet to be determined.

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