Jonglei hits by soaring food prices
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By John Actually
June 3, 2011 (BOR) —Jonglei state is currently facing red-shift in
food prices that are mainly imported from the north Sudan (Khartoum),
Uganda and Kenya due to impassible roads connecting Bor to Juba and
the fading relationship with Khartoum government.
JPEG - 44.5 kb
A truck full of goods from Uganda via Juba stucked at Malualagor bar 7
miles away from Bor on 29 May 2011 (Photo John Actually- ST)
Local merchants say transportation of goods to Jonglei from Uganda and
Khartoum has become difficult citing high cost of shipping, bad roads
and rise in the value of hard currency against the Sudanese currency.
Speaking to Sudan Tribune a trader at Bor docking point Friday,
Mohamed Khalid, who identified himself as a Darfurian said shipping of
goods from Khartoum has shot up saying northern authorities are making
it harder for traders to ship goods to South Sudan.
Khalid who had been in Bor since 2004 as a trader dealing with food
stuffs said it cost him a lot of money and time to load 300bags of
Sorghum, 50 bags of Sugar and 3 tons of crates of soda on the ship.
Khalid has set the prices based on all overheads he incurred in the
process saying a bag of sorghum is marked at 300 Sudanese Pounds, a
bag of Sugar at 200 Sudanese Pounds and small bag of 25 kg of maize
flour at 70Pounds.
Previously, a bag of Sorghum was 180 Sudanese Pounds; a bag of Sugar
was at 140 pounds, and 25 kg of maize flour at 25 Pounds.
The prices of food stuffs in Bor have doubled over the last four weeks
following the onset of rainy season and shipping cost of goods from
Khartoum.
Another Somalia trader, Hammed Yusuf outlined the challenges they
faced while trying to get goods to the Jonglei via Juba-Bor roads
saying the tax collectors at the borders and the state exaggerated
taxes, accusing them of collecting tariffs more than one.
Yusuf said they are sometimes threatened by tax officers who forced to
offload goods just for delay. He said he had lost one of his turn boys
last year when they were attack on Juba-Bor road near Mongala by an
armed gang of six young men with AK47 and GM3 rifles.
The indefinite increase in food prices has directly affected the local
populations in both town and in the villages who live on less than a
dollar per day.
Ayen Ater, 34, a woman from Anyidi Payam who came for shopping in Bor
told Sudan Tribune that she found it difficult to meet the new market
prices.
Ayen said she came to buy either a bag of 50kg of maize flour or
sorghum for her family but her pocket did not allow her to get any.
"Prices are high, nobody can afford to buy", she said. "Everybody is
getting hungry."
Low food production in the region is linked to the violence and high
level of insecurity. Most of villagers abandon their agriculture and
flee conflict areas to the twons.
Local farmers who feared being killed at their fields have now
migrated to towns where shelters, food and other basic needs are hard
to come by.
Two weeks ago, a village of Cuei-Nyok was attacked by unknown gunmen
at late midnight, killing a man and his wife, forcing the residents to
quit for Bor town.
The fear of attacks from fugitives and cattle thieves has surged rural
to town migrations resulting into slums in town as the poor majority
are unable to get lands for settlement.
The state assembly has recently passed the land bill entailing third
class plot fees of 400 SDG, the poor villages will be screened out
from getting lands.
The state government promised to protect the civilians in the villages
to reduce the fleeing the population from leaving their residential
areas but little has been done so far.
The state government officials were not available to make comments.
(ST)
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