Bus fares soar in eastern Sudan

The passenger bus services between Khartoum and eastern Sudan states raised ticket prices on Tuesday following the decision of the Ministry of Transport and Roads to raise the tariff for transportation by 20 per cent, effective Monday.

Residents of Kassala told Radio Dabanga the fare from Khartoum to Kassala has risen from SDG175 to SDG210 and from El Gedaref to Khartoum from SDG115 to SDG130.

However, but midday on Tuesday, no reports of price increases reached this station from Darfur or Kordofan.

On Monday Osama El Taher, a trader in El Gedaref market told Radio Dabanga that the domestic transportation tariff has risen by 50 per cent.

He said that the tariff at El Suyol district has risen from SDG1.3 to SDG1.8, Diem Bakr from SDG2 to SDG3, and Hillet El Agib from SDG1.5 to SDG2, while a motor tricycle rickshaw tariff has risen from SDG2 to 3SDG.

He explained that the transportation tariff for neighbouring villages in El Gedaref has risen from SDG3 to SDG5, and a ticket to Khartoum from SDG115 to SDG130.

Unrest

The last week has seen sporadic protests in the Sudanese capital, Nyala in South Darfur, and Atbara in the River Nile state, in protest against the recent increases in fuel and electricity prices, after the government liberalised the fuel market on Thursday.

The transportation tariffs started to soar immediately on Friday. The price increases range around 50 per cent.

As reported by Radio Dabanga earlier, Sudan’s opposition parties are calling for intifada, and on the people of the country to stage mass protests against the price increases.

(SDG1 = USD0.1543 Source: CBoS 09-11-2016)