Diesel vouchers denial was to achieve fair distribution: Syria’s Raqqa Fuel Directorate
RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – On Thursday, an official of the General Fuel Directorate run by the Civil Council in Raqqa city, northern Syria, said some residents were denied diesel vouchers according to an item in the decision to make sure the process of diesel distribution is fair.
Those residents can get their share of diesel after submitting their papers in an attachment list in their own commune buildings.
It is worth mentioning that the commune is the smallest administrative cell of the Autonomous Administration. It is made up of several village, where 800 to 1,000 persons are included in one commune.
Some families based in Raqqa city complained they have yet to get diesel vouchers which allow them purchase their portion of diesel for winter.
The reason behind that was explained by the General Fuel Directorate that the family’s smallest member registered in the Family Book was above 18.
“The decision not to hand diesel vouchers to some families whose smallest members are over 18 is an old item in the decision,” Maher al-Abdullah, head of legal issues in the Directorate said.
Last year, diesel vouchers were issued for some people who submitted their papers for the commune and it turned out later that owners of the papers were dead or were expatriates, al-Abdullah added.
To avoid such phenomena, the General Fuel Directorate issued the decision not to hand vouchers to people whose smallest family member is above 18.
By applying this mechanism, diesel will be distributed with fair and suitable amounts to every family in the region, an official in the Directorate noted.
Diesel vouchers are issued by the General Fuel Directorate of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) to every family to get its own portion from winter diesel.
According to the diesel voucher, each family has the right to have 440 liter of diesel with subsidized price; 75 SYP per liter.
“Citizens whom Family Books were refused, can review the commune building in their own neighborhood to submit in an attachment list. Then a committee appointed by the Directorate will visit their houses to check that the family members are not expatriates. Accordingly, they will be handed their own share of diesel,” al-Abdullah mentioned.
Demand on fuel increase with the advent of winter in cities in northeast Syria, specially the big ones. Some other people are still awaiting to fill their house barrels with diesel.
In Raqqa, prices of diesel for one single barrel (220 liters) exceeded 150,000 SYP (approximately $50) in the black market.