KUCHING, Nov 6: Twenty-four local authorities in Sarawak are participating in the Malaysia Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Cities Roadmap programme.
In announcing this, Minister of Local Government Development Nga Kor Ming said out of 155 local councils which he also referred to as ‘cities’, 45 have already embarked on the SDG Cities Roadmap programme to achieve the 17 SDG Goals and 169 targets.
“Six out these ‘cities’ have submitted their Voluntary Local Review report of progress to the United Nations and 24 out of the 45 ‘cities’ are from Sarawak,” he said when officiating at the Malaysia SDG Cities Network and World Habitat Day held at Hikmah Exchange Event Centre (HEEC) here today.
He also lauded the Sarawak government’s efforts through Ministry of Public Health, Housing and Local Government for propelling and championing the cause.
“For your information, the report has been submitted to United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York and there will be a periodic review of the indicators,” he added.
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Public Health, Housing and Local Government Datuk Michael Tiang when contacted, said the 24 ‘cities’ are Simunjan, Kuching South, Lubok Antu, Betong, Kota Samarahan, Bau, Saratok, Matu and Daro, Lundu, Kanowit, Sibu, Sibu Rural District, Kapit, Bintulu, Miri, Limbang, Lawas, Dalat and Mukah, Meradong and Julau, Marudi, Sarikei, Serian, Sri Aman, Subis and Padawan.
He added that all of the ‘cities’ are under Ministry of Public Health, Housing and Local Government, except for Bintulu, which is under Bintulu Development Authority (BDA).
According to urbanagendaplatform.org, SDG Cities starts with a visioning process initiated by the city authority that brings together stakeholders from civil society, business communities, representative neighbourhoods and many others, to identify challenges and development priorities for the city. — DayakDaily
