The Impact of the Siege | Sweida
What does the siege leave behind in people’s daily lives?
Fuel, rising prices, and shrinking purchasing power in Sweida
Amid the cut-off of fuel supplies to Sweida province and rising prices on the black market, citizens, traders, and transport drivers speak about how the fuel crisis is affecting their daily lives, the movement of markets, the cost of transport, and their ability to buy basic necessities.
According to testimonies gathered by journalist Darine Abu Zour for this report, the crisis has lasted for about 20 to 25 days for some taxi drivers who were forced, by their accounts, to buy petrol on the black market at prices reaching around 30,000 to 35,000 Syrian pounds per liter.
The fuel crisis begins on the road
One taxi driver says the rise in petrol prices is directly reflected in transport fares, while the driver struggles to raise the fare in proportion to fuel costs, because passengers themselves cannot afford the increase.
Another driver describes the situation: higher petrol prices necessarily mean a higher fare, but he is met with passengers who refuse to pay the new fare because they cannot afford it, pushing some to choose walking instead of taking a car.
A third driver says buying fuel on the black market drains a large part of his daily income, so he returns home after a day’s work with only a limited amount, barely enough to buy some necessities.
Higher transport costs hit the markets
The effects of the fuel crisis do not stop with transport drivers. According to merchants’ testimonies, the increased cost of fuel and transport has raised the cost of moving goods and has been reflected in the prices of a number of goods and services.
One speaker points to the rise in the price of a liter of oil, which he says used to sell for about 22,000 pounds before reaching about 29,000 or 30,000 pounds. He links this to what he describes as the siege imposed on the province and the prevention of fuel from entering it.
A worker in the transport sector also spoke about the rise in the cost of some trips or the cost of renting cars, noting that the cost of a car that used to be about 600,000 pounds has become, according to him, close to one million pounds.
A slower market and weaker purchasing power
Merchants and business owners interviewed by the journalist describe market movement as clearly declining, with citizens’ ability to buy falling.
One merchant says they had to raise some prices to cover the cost of fuel and transport, but at the same time he notices a decline in market movement, even during hours that are supposed to be busy.
One participant in the report links the fuel crisis to what he describes as a drop in purchasing power of up to 70 percent.
These conditions are also reflected in how families buy their needs. According to one testimony, a citizen who used to buy a kilogram of a commodity now buys half a kilogram, while others resort to buying smaller quantities according to the money available to them, even if the quantity is not enough for their needs.
“People can no longer afford to buy”
Testimonies repeatedly refer to the gap between rising prices and income.
One participant says: “There are no salaries. Give me a salary so I can go down to the market and buy.”
Another testimony speaks of people, including retirees, who have not received their salaries for a long time, making it even harder to cope with rising prices.
As the cost of fuel, transport, and goods rises, participants say their ability to consume is declining, and buying essentials has become tied to the amount of money available at that moment.
In the end, in these testimonies the fuel crisis does not appear as merely a fuel crisis, but as a chain extending from the road to the market, from transport costs to commodity prices, from the worker’s income to the family’s ability to buy its daily needs.
This is the impact of the siege as these voices tell it.
The material is based on interviews conducted by a volunteer journalist with citizens, traders, and transport drivers in Sweida. The opinions and figures above are attributed to their owners as they appeared in the interviews.
