TEL TAMR, Syria (North Press) – The town of Tel Tamr, north of Hasakah, northeastern Syria, is witnessing a remarkable decline in the urban movement, unlike previous years, due to security tensions and the frequent targeting by Turkish forces and Turkish-backed armed opposition groups in the region.
Construction projects a risk
Adnan Haj Khalaf, 45, an under-construction-building owner, said that the positioning of the opposition groups and the Turkish army in the town’s countryside causes fears which hinder stability-related projects, such as construction works.
“The unstable security situation made construction work a risky now,” he added.
The length of the front lines in Tel Tamr is estimated at 40 km, as the residents hear the sounds of shells launched by the Turkish forces and their armed groups towards populated villages and Syrian government checkpoints in the countryside of Tel Tamr from time to time.
Expensive materials
The collapse of the value of the Syrian pound and the rise of the prices of the construction materials prompted many buildings’ owners to stop the construction process for an unnamed period.
For more than a month, the Syrian pound has been witnessing a sharp decline against the foreign currencies, as the exchange rate, on Monday, reached 4,220 SYP against one dollar in Hasakah.
The prices of building materials have doubled, as the price of a ton of iron recently reached about three million SYP equivalent to 750 dollars, and a sack of cement to more than 15,000 SYP equivalent to four dollars.
The building Haj Khalaf is currently possesses is estimated at 70 million SYP; approximately $ 18,000, according to him.
Few job opportunities
Sultan Baravi, a resident of Tel Tamr, stopped construction works because of the high cost of construction materials.
“However, the Turkish forces’ continuous attempts to disturb the stability and security of the region is the main factor,” Baravi said.
He added that the construction movement was active a year before, “the contractors and owners of capital were competing to build shops and buildings due to the strategic site of the town.”
The state of stagnation in the urban movement in Tel Tamr has negatively affected the workers as well, which prompted many of them to search for alternative jobs to support their families in light of the deteriorating living conditions.
Ahmad Kozy, a joiner, whose construction workshop currently includes only four workers, said that work “has diminished a lot in light of the decline in construction activity.”
The urban movement is limited to the owners of capital, “and it is very limited, which affects our source of living,” he added.
The number of applicants for building permits reached 35 in 2019, 15 in 2020 and only one since the beginning of 2021, according to the Technical Office of the People’s Municipality in Tel Tamr.
Since November 2019, the front lines in the countryside of Tel Tamr have been witnessing Turkish bombardment and infiltration attempts by Turkish-backed groups, whose control over Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad resulted in the transformation of dozens of villages to fire zones.