Translation by Yusra Ahmed
(Zaman Al Wasl)- Eid is coming in a time of unprecedented high prices making people of low income feel helpless as they are not able to afford to buy most of the thing either food, sweets or clothes.
The price of one kilogram of poultry makes 5% of salary, while a meal of fish cost a salary of the whole month, sweets are seen only in dreams.
Prices of locally produced vegetables have significantly dropped, even less that the cost of production, threatening of stopping it later, and prices might increase.
Farmer Jaafer Sabouh from the village of Dahr Barakat from the countryside of Jableh told Zaman Al Wasl: “we might stop agriculture due to neglect we face by the ministry of agriculture as it does not help us in providing composts an pesticides and fuel, they are too expensive in the black market, added to the monopoly of traders of vegetable market and difficulties in selling vegetables outside the city and to opposition-held areas.
Jamil Makna, the wholesale trader in the vegetable market commented: “although the blockage helped in supplying vegetable to the city at low prices, but difficulties on transporting them to other cities and exporting vegetables abroad, has badly affected farmers at first place”.
In regard to clothes and shoes, they are not affordable to most of the people as their prices soar. The grade 3 shoes costs SYP 8000, while first grade costs SYP 25000, according to Mohammed al-Sahili, correspondent of Latakia Media Network.
Hussein, 40, told Zaman Al Wasl: “I cannot afford to buy Eid clothes to my children, as all my salary is no enough to cover cost of Eid clothes for one child, even the second-hand clothes are over our affordability”.
The trader explained the rise in prices by the high cost of wholesale products at first place, as they cannot reduce the prices lower that the cost, otherwise they would lose.
Abo Mohammed al-Halabi, a children clothes’ trader correlated the increase in prices by the increase price of the U.S Dollar as it reached to SYP 650 earlier, mentioning that they cannot reduce the prices when U.S Dollar dropped to SYP 480 otherwise they would lose, even they might risk stopping their trade because there is no guarantee for keeping the Dollar exchange rate the same.
Om Eisa from Zakzakaniya suburb in Latakia described traders as the carpenters' saws, cutting upward and downward.
In regard to consumable products and other kinds of food, their prices are unprecedentedly high, many of observers attribute that to stopping shipments in the seaport of Latakia and Tartus.
Mustafa al-Ahmed, economy analyst explained that traders associated to the regime have their hand behind stopping shipments in seaports, in order to distribute their own products at prices they want.
In the end, with all that high cost of almost everything, children’s happiness might not be complete in Eid, as neither clothes, food nor money to spend in Eid.
(Zaman Al Wasl)- Eid is coming in a time of unprecedented high prices making people of low income feel helpless as they are not able to afford to buy most of the thing either food, sweets or clothes.
The price of one kilogram of poultry makes 5% of salary, while a meal of fish cost a salary of the whole month, sweets are seen only in dreams.
Prices of locally produced vegetables have significantly dropped, even less that the cost of production, threatening of stopping it later, and prices might increase.
Farmer Jaafer Sabouh from the village of Dahr Barakat from the countryside of Jableh told Zaman Al Wasl: “we might stop agriculture due to neglect we face by the ministry of agriculture as it does not help us in providing composts an pesticides and fuel, they are too expensive in the black market, added to the monopoly of traders of vegetable market and difficulties in selling vegetables outside the city and to opposition-held areas.
Jamil Makna, the wholesale trader in the vegetable market commented: “although the blockage helped in supplying vegetable to the city at low prices, but difficulties on transporting them to other cities and exporting vegetables abroad, has badly affected farmers at first place”.
In regard to clothes and shoes, they are not affordable to most of the people as their prices soar. The grade 3 shoes costs SYP 8000, while first grade costs SYP 25000, according to Mohammed al-Sahili, correspondent of Latakia Media Network.
Hussein, 40, told Zaman Al Wasl: “I cannot afford to buy Eid clothes to my children, as all my salary is no enough to cover cost of Eid clothes for one child, even the second-hand clothes are over our affordability”.
The trader explained the rise in prices by the high cost of wholesale products at first place, as they cannot reduce the prices lower that the cost, otherwise they would lose.
Abo Mohammed al-Halabi, a children clothes’ trader correlated the increase in prices by the increase price of the U.S Dollar as it reached to SYP 650 earlier, mentioning that they cannot reduce the prices when U.S Dollar dropped to SYP 480 otherwise they would lose, even they might risk stopping their trade because there is no guarantee for keeping the Dollar exchange rate the same.
Om Eisa from Zakzakaniya suburb in Latakia described traders as the carpenters' saws, cutting upward and downward.
In regard to consumable products and other kinds of food, their prices are unprecedentedly high, many of observers attribute that to stopping shipments in the seaport of Latakia and Tartus.
Mustafa al-Ahmed, economy analyst explained that traders associated to the regime have their hand behind stopping shipments in seaports, in order to distribute their own products at prices they want.
In the end, with all that high cost of almost everything, children’s happiness might not be complete in Eid, as neither clothes, food nor money to spend in Eid.
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