‘$13,000 for school disappeared’: South Darfur residents

Residents in Manawashi locality, South Darfur, have claimed that more than SDG 70,000 ($12,165) collected from inhabitants and reserved for the maintenance of schools, has disappeared.

An elder in Manawashi told Radio Dabanga that all residents had agreed to pay SDG 50 ($8.70) to the administrative unit in the area. The money would be spent on the maintenance and construction of classes at a secondary school.

“When we went to Mershing locality to receive SDG 76,000 ($13,207) to purchase materials for the maintenance, the Commissioner told us that the amount has not entered the treasury.” He accused the executive director of Manawashi's administrative unit, who collected the amount from the residents, of taking the money.

Darfur-Khartoum bus 'too expensive'

The price of a bus ticket from El Fasher to Khartoum and vice versa is too high compared to bus tickets in other states of Sudan, bus passengers complained. A North Darfur citizen revealed to Radio Dabanga that the price of an El Fasher-Khartoum ticket costs SDG 250 ($43), and the other way around costs SDG 350 ($61), while the distance remains the same.

“Although the distance from Khartoum to Port Sudan is longer than between El Fasher and Khartoum, the ticket price for Port Sudan is SDG 150 ($26),” he reported. “Also people from South and West Darfur have to depend on buses to travel to Khartoum, but the high rates of the tickets are a burden to them.”

The listener demanded that the authorities resolve the problem.