Aleppo – North-Press Agency
Zein al-Abdin Hussein
The neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyah in the northern part of the city of Aleppo have been under a civil administration for more than a year, an administration based on securing civilians' needs within an institutional system independent of the Syrian government institutions in Aleppo. The administration believes that it provides available services to the residents, who criticize aspects of the work of this administration.
Local civil council
This administration has a general council, under which there are several institutions and committees such as service, health, educational, and economic committees, the Health Council, the People's Municipality, the Culture and Language Foundation, the Education Movement, the Internal Security Forces and Traffic Police, the Social Reconciliation Council, the Economic Council, the Martyrs Foundation, the Contract Bureau, and the Association for Orphan Care, in addition to the Communes (neighborhoods committees) and many committees and associations like the Yazidi House, the Producers' Foundation, the Religions Forum, and the Relief Foundation.
Muhammad Sheikho, co-chair of the General Council of the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyah neighborhoods, said that all institutions in the neighborhood belong to them and operate under their umbrella directly.
He indicated that the council distributed tasks to committees, bodies, and institutions during the curfew period to prevent the spread of coronavirus, which is related to preventative and precautionary measures to secure the neighborhood's needs, with the support of the Internal Security Forces.
The roads with adjacent neighborhoods which are under the control of the Syrian government were closed, and a quarantine center was opened under the supervision of the Health Council, with the other councils being put on alert and ready for any emergency.
In the neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud Gharbi, Sheikh Maqsoud Sharqi, Marouf Mosque and Ashrafiyah, all typss of people including Kurds, Arabs, Christians, and Yazidis live. Large numbers of people were displaced from these neighborhoods at the beginning of the Syrian crisis that escalated in Aleppo in 2012. Subsequently, they became a safe haven for many people from both inside and outside the city of Aleppo after witnessing relative calm after the exit of armed opposition groups from the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo in 2016.
They sheltered many of Afrin's displaced people after the invasion of Turkey and its affiliated groups in the Afrin region in March 2018.
Censorship and permissions
According to a statement by the head of the Relations Committee of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) Badran Hamo in March 2019, there are about 22,000 families (nearly 80,000 people) in the neighborhoods.
Furthermore, co-chair of the Health Council in the Administration, Layla Hassan said that the council concentrates on holding awareness and nursery training courses and granting permissions for opening pharmacies and clinics, in addition to inspecting the work of hospital and the existing infirmaries in the neighborhoods.
"We make health inspection tours and give approvals for opening food stores after making sure that they meet health conditions," she added.
Roshin Mousa, co-chair of the People's Municipality, said that their work concentrates on price control and violators in the markets, in addition to special committees for cleaning and sterilizing neighborhoods, and opening a special department for granting approvals to stores, building and construction.
Mousa noted that the People's Municipality provides drinking water and electricity to the neighborhoods in "coordination with the Syrian Red Crescent in Aleppo," that mediates between them and the Service Department in the Aleppo Governorate Council.
"Power lines are now rehabilitated, and 60% of the neighborhoods have been provided with electricity so far," she added.
Not responding to complaints
For their part, citizens of Sheikh Maqsoud complain about their demands being neglected by the neighborhood councils. Hanif Muhammad, a resident of the neighborhood, confirmed that they submitted a complaint to the Commune (the neighborhood's council) to fill a pothole and to maintain the roads, but it has not responded so far.
"Thanks to the Municipality for its efforts in providing electricity, but it has not responded to our complaints regarding maintaining the roads and filling the existing gaps in the neighborhood so far," Ahmad said.
He added that the commune promised them to convene their complaint to the municipality, but there are no responses, despite the passage of many months.
While Abdulrahman Haffar, a grocer on the street between Sheikh Maqsoud Sharqi and Marouf Mosque, opposed the decision of the Consumer Protection Bureau of the People's Municipality about mandating a low profit percentage for consumable items.
During his speech, he gave an example, saying: "It is not reasonable that the profit of one box of cigarettes, whose price is more than SYP 1,000 for wholesale, is between SYP 30 and 50. The prices are fluctuating due to the collapse of the Syrian pound against the dollar, and this has a significant negative effect" calling the relevant parties in the municipality to find a solution to the problem.
The General Council in Aleppo was officially announced after holding a meeting of more than 350 members of political parties, civil institutions, communes, and councils in Aleppo on April 25th, 2019, according to the presidency of the council.