The authorities in the Abyei Administrative Area on Wednesday said that the prices of food commodities have been reduced after the local government intervened and supplied the market with subsidized food items.
Last week, the citizens in Abyei, Aneet, and Amiet raised an alarm over rising food prices.
Osman Chol, the chairperson of the Abyei chamber of commerce said his office and the local government quickly intervened and that food prices were reduced.
“The scarcity of especially food items in Abyei was caused by floods which closed many roads,” he said. “As of Tuesday, the chamber of commerce and the area government brought sorghum into the market, and now the price of a malwa reduced to SSP 1,500. However, the prices of building materials, clothes, and other non-food items remain high because flood waters blocked roads coming from Wau and Sudan.”
Some women who bought sorghum from the government’s subsidized stock praised the local authorities for intervening and stabilizing food prices.
Nyanbol Chol, a resident of Guk-bial block near Abyei market, said the prices of sorghum, sugar, and meat had reduced.
“The prices have now been reduced. A sack of charcoal was sold at SSP 12,000 but has come down to 6,000 and sorghum reduced to SSP 1,500 which is the government price from 3,000,” she explained. “Yesterday I bought a cup of sugar at SSP 100 yet it used to be 200. The price of meat is still high but we have resorted to eating fish because we have a lot of it here in Abyei.”
Another resident, Anon Agal, praised the area’s chief administrator for intervening by bringing subsidized food items into the market.
“The prices in the market decreased nowadays after our chief, Gen. Kuol Deim, brought sorghum which costs SSP 1,500,” she said. “I bought some malwas but the lines of people were so long and you could not get sorghum quickly.”
Meanwhile, the Abyei government spokesperson, Ajak Deng Miyen, confirmed the government’s intervention but said that floods had stopped them from opening more points of sale.
“This is the normal practice of the Abyei government and we sell 50 big sacks of sorghum from our reserves to subsidize the prices of food in the market,” he said. “We would have opened other centers in different areas but there is no accessibility due to flooding.”