Despite government promises to solve, bread crisis in Syria’s Damascus exacerbates
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – The Syrian capital, Damascus, witnessed on Tuesday, an exacerbation in bread crisis, as hundreds of residents continued gathering in front of public bakeries to get their bread allocations, amid tight security measures.
Pictures obtained by North Press show large gatherings and a remarkable overcrowding by residents in front of Bab Touma bakery in the city of Damascus.
In a phone call to North Press, Nour Bayraqdar, 50, a resident of Jaramana neighborhood in Damascus, said that they wait three or four hours in front of the bakeries to get their bread.
She pointed out that they are forced to buy subsidized bread which, in some neighborhoods, may reach 1,200 Syrian pounds (SYP) per bundle.
On the other hand, a bundle of government bread is sold for more than 1,000 SYP in the black market, in front of police officers and the Syrian government authorities.
Last week, Deputy Minister of Internal Trade of the Syrian government, Jamal Shu’aub, stated that the overcrowding in front of the bakeries would “recede within the next few days.”
Residents in the Syrian government-held areas have been facing a miserable living situation for months, represented by an acute shortage of bread and fuel in addition to high foodstuff prices.
The Syrian government data indicate that it suffers from a shortage of wheat due to the fires set in the Jazira regions in northeastern Syria and the Western sanctions imposed on it.
The current overcrowding is the most severe in the history of Syria, as residents are forced to stand in long queues for hours in order to get one or two bundles of bread.