Kobani – North-Press Agency
Residents of the city of Kobani, northeast of Aleppo, complain about the high prices of food and vegetables, in conjunction with the high exchange rate of the dollar against the Syrian pound. This comes amid a quarantine that has been in effect since last Monday in the cities of North and East Syria, and in light of the accusations made by traders and officials in the Supply Directorate that wholesalers in the city of Manbij and others outside the federal regions are exploiting the quarantine conditions.
Khalil Bozan, a 38-year-old resident of the Shaheed Akef neighborhood in the city of Kobani, complained about the lack of food control in the markets, with the increase in food prices in general and vegetables in particular during the past two days.
The absence of control
Bozan added that the rise in the exchange rate of the dollar affected the prices of materials slightly, "but with the decisions related to the coronavirus pandemic, the prices have increased more," he said.
Daleel Hajji, a vegetable trader al-Hal Market in Kobani, said: “The rise in prices came as a result of traders’ controlling of prices in [Syrian] regime-held areas and the al-Bab area."
Traders' control
Co-chair of the Directorate of Supply in the Euphrates region, Ahmad Daban, told North-Press that the high prices in northeastern Syria are due to traders’ control of the prices of vegetables in the city of Manbij. "We are forced to buy vegetables from Manbij as it is the main current source of entry of vegetables and fruits. We have no alternative," he said.
The problem in Manbij
"The Supply Directorate in Kobani organizes missions for city merchants during the quarantine, in addition to organizing price-monitoring patrols," Daban added.
He pointed out that the Supply Directorate is organizing a weekly prices list of vegetable and fruit in Kobani in coordination with al-Hal Market, calling on the people to assist the Supply Directorate in controlling prices by submitting complaints of shops that violate the price list.