MPs slate Sudan govt. for ‘aggravating bread and flour crisis’

Sudanese MP Abulgasim Burtom, the head of the parliamentary alliance of change, has harshly criticised the government for “aggravating the bread and flour crisis”.

He said that the successive crises are a sign of mismanagement, the failure of the government’s economic programme and that it has no solutions to the crises.

He accused the government of stirring the bread crisis in order to increase the price of flour and warned against the consequences of taking this step; that the owners of bakeries are suffering from an increase in input prices of the bread industry.

He described the parliament’s role in the flour and bread crisis as negative because of the “mechanical majority of the National Congress Party”.

He played down the importance of the parliament’s summoning of the ministers and questioning them and considered that as having no effect on the government’s decision.

Acute shortage

The bread crisis in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum as well as the states has reached a peak, leading to the closure of the bakeries for lack of flour and forcing residents to queue for long hours, often without success. There have also been incidents of violent quarrels reported as residents compete for the little bread there is.

Fuel crisis

The bread shortage is a knock-on result of the chronic fuel crisis in Sudan. This impacts logistics and puts mills under pressure leading to a shortage of flour, however vehicles to transport the flour to bakeries must queue for fuel. The bakeries themselves are also short of gas to fire their ovens.

The ongoing crisis threatens longer-term food supplies in Sudan as agricultural projects are also in short supply of fuel.