100 Dunums on Fire in West Kobani for Six Days

Over 100 dunums of agriculture crops were set on fire during the past period, in the countryside of Kobani / the western Ain al-Arab, where the region witnessed a remarkable of crops, due to heavy rainfall of this year.

The fires coincided with the beginning of harvesting cultivated, with wheat and barley, lands amid a few number of agricultural harvesters most of  which headed to Al-Jazira region, because of its fertile lands and abundant production, comparing with agricultural lands in Kobani 

Sobhi Ibrahim Sayed, 40-year-old, a farmer from Qori village, 18 km west of Kobani told North Press that the Wednesday afternoon’s fire burned two hectares of barley, in addition to burning other lands that surround it. 

 

“I was told that a fire was set on the lands, I went to tell the owners of the tractors to help us to extinguish the fire, the firefighter arrived too late, because the distance between Kobani and our village is 18 kilometers, beside that the road is far and bad,” Ibrahim said.

Ibrahim explained, that the reason of the fire, is due to an electrical spark caused by the electrical transformer in their land, adding that they demanded for several times to find a solution to the problem of spark of electrical transformer, because it is not the first time that the transformer caused fires in the agricultural land in the village.

The fire caused burning about 5 hectares of barley, which owned by three figures from the village, including two hectares of the farmer Sobhi Ibrahim, thus the losses are estimated at 500 SYP (877 USD$), in addition to 2.5 hectares of barley of the farmers Juma Atash, which the losses estimated with the same amount.

However, the farmer Juma Atash, 55 year-old, from Qori village, confirmed that his harvest, in addition to his neighbor one, were burned by spark of electric transformer. He pointed out, that the villagers helped them to extinguish the fire with tractors, before consuming other lands.

Furthermore, Atash added that the agricultural crop was bad from several years, however the harvest in this year is good, but it burned, pointing out that the incomes of the farmers depend on crops of their lands, and also their living condition is difficult , adding that the decision to compensate them for the fires is backed to Administration, and they will not reject it, but in the same time they would not demand it.

On Tuesday near Qori village, the fire set on six hectares of crops in Derbazin Horan village, 25 km west of Kobani / Ain Al-Arab.

Mustafa Hamou Hasan, 38 year-old, from Derbazin Horan village, explained that the fire that set on the village, led to the burning of two hectares of wheat and four hectares of barley, he also pointed out that about 30 agricultural tractors contributed to extinguish the fire, in time the firefighter arrived after the fire extinguished.

Moreover, Hasan added that the presence of the firefighter in the agricultural area, is necessary to reduce the damage, pointing out that the firefighter in the municipality near their village was, selling the citizens drinking water and was not ready to help extinguishing the fire.

In other words, Hasan asserted that they do not know the reasons of setting on fire, noting that the cause of setting on fire, starting from the paved road, is probably by throwing cigarette stubs by the drivers who passed by or spark of agricultural machinery.

Thus, the losses of damage, in the wheat and barley crops in Derbazin Horan village, is estimated at more than two million SYP (3,500$), which owned by one family.

 The demands of the resident

The residents of the western villages demand the municipality a serious attention to the interests and resources of the people. It is noteworthy, that the municipality is located in Binder village, it is about 5 km away, and it could have been extinguishing the fire if it was ready to intervene, according to the residents.

This is in addition to, that farmers in Kobani are generally suffering from the lack of harvesters in the area, and that concerned the villagers about their crops, because fires are increasing in the area.

Hasan said they were waiting for the end of the season since a year, because the production was good, in comparing with crops of more than ten years ago, and when it was the time of the crops, it was all burned, and they did not benefit from it, pointing out that they will accept the compensation for fire losses, but they do not expect it.

It is worth to mention, that about 15 dunums of barley crops were burned in Qaran village last Friday, as a result of shooting incendiary bullet by the Turkish army, that stationed at the tomb of Suleiman Shah, which located in Syrian territory in Ashma village, so it led setting on the fire at the agricultural land.

this in addition to setting on fire, that exceeded 10 hectares of agricultural land due to electrical short, on 15 May in Lekto village of Al-Chalabiya area, south of Kobani / Ain Al-Arab.