Prices soar, no job opportunities in West Darfur capital
The people in El Geneina, capital of West Darfur, are facing difficult living conditions these days.
A resident of the town reported to Radio Dabanga that apart from the soaring prices of basic commodities, employment opportunities are almost nil.
He explained that the price of a kilogram of meat has risen to SDG40 ($7), a pound of sugar to SDG5 ($0.82), half a litre of cooking oil SDG12 ($2), and a ‘heap of five tomatoes’ SDG5.
He attributed the price rises to the delay in the arrival of lorries from Khartoum. “Usually a lorry reaches El Geneina in one week, but since a couple of months the lorries are held up in Nyala, capital of South Darfur.
The people in El Geneina, capital of West Darfur, are facing difficult living conditions these days.
A resident of the town reported to Radio Dabanga that apart from the soaring prices of basic commodities, employment opportunities are almost nil.
He explained that the price of a kilogram of meat has risen to SDG40 ($7), a pound of sugar to SDG5 ($0.82), half a litre of cooking oil SDG12 ($2), and a 'heap of five tomatoes' SDG5.
He attributed the price rises to the delay in the arrival of lorries from Khartoum. “Usually a lorry reaches El Geneina in one week, but since a couple of months the lorries are held up in Nyala, capital of South Darfur.
“Because of the rampant insecurity, the lorries are only allowed to proceed on the Nyala-El Geneina road in convoys. The fees for the guarding of the convoys double the transportation costs, that are shouldered by the people,” he explained.
“The extreme scarcity of employment opportunities and the absence of regional and national projects to provide work opportunities, does help us either.”
The source further pointed to the government’s expulsion of foreign organisations in 2009. “They used to provide food aid to the local population in general and the displaced people in particular. Now that they're gone, a large number of parents were forced to pull their children out of school because of the lack of food and other essential needs.”
Bread crisis
On 28 December, hundreds of basic and secondary school students took to the streets of El Geneina this morning to protest against the lack of bread.
Many bakeries in the capital had to close their doors because of a lack of cooking gas. The West Darfur authorities recently forbid them to make use of firewood instead. The protesters called for freedom and the downfall of the Sudanese government.
Security troops and policemen used live ammunition, tear gas, and batons to disperse the crowd. Six students were wounded, three of them seriously. Many others fainted.
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