Residents in Syria’s Suwayda organize a sit-in a fuel increase
SUWAYDA, Syria (North Press) – Yesterday on Sunday, a group of protestors gathered in front of the governorate building in Suwayda, southern Syria, and met the governor, Homam Debyat, demanding an increase in the allocations of heating oil.
During their meeting with the governor, the protesters identified their demands to provide 400 liters of heating oil to the residents during winter warning about dangers and impacts on forests and cutting down trees in order to use them as an alternative in the event heating oil is not available.
On October 2, a group of activists called, on social media, the local and civil society in Suwayda for civic insurrection and an open public strike.
A number of shop owners intended to close their shops in response to the civic insurrection.
“The campaign’s launchers and traders coordinated regarding the need for having a peaceful escalation in the coming days, giving ten days to the governor of Suwayda and the Syrian government to secure heating oil for residents,” Ahmad Aliwi, a pseudonym for a merchant in the city of Suwayda, told North Press.
“The call for a complete closure of shops in Suwayda is addressed to all traders and industrialists in the city to support the rightful demands of the population,” he added.
Calls for a civic insurrection have been launched in Suwayda for several days in an objection on the deteriorating livelihood conditions and the lack of heating oil for residents in Suwayda.
The public resentment came after the government announced that it intends to distribute 50 liters of heating oil to residents per month in a time when resident of Suwayda have not receive any allocations yet.
Politicians, activists, and residents of Suwayda fear that bloody confrontations may took place in Suwayda especially after how things have worked out in Daraa.
For months, Suwayda have been witnessing dangerous security tensions that are mainly sparked by the government military security, according to activists.
On July 11, the Syrian government raised the price of the liter of subsidized diesel by about 178% making it 500 Syrian pounds (SYP) after it was 180 SYP.
Meanwhile, the price of the unsubsidized diesel in black market is more than five times the price of subsidized diesel, without being subjected to monitoring, according to activists and residents.