Food Prices Rise In Rumbek

22 July 2010 - (Rumbek) – The prices of essential food commodities in Rumbek have risen due to heavy taxation by the custom authorities.

Speaking to SRS from Rumbek on Wednesday, one of the traders, Abui Noel, said that they are charged at every roadblock when transporting goods.

[Abui Noel]: “Roadblocks have killed us, because everywhere there is a roadblock and they collect money from us. Even the owners of those lorries that we normally hire are fed up and in order for someone to hire a vehicle it has become a problem because of its cost of about nine thousand Sudanese pounds.”

SRS also spoke to some customers who said that the prices of goods have doubled making it difficult for local people to buy.

[Rhoda Paul]: “Everything in the market is expensive including things like sugar and flour. Everything is expensive and we cannot afford to buy. A bag of floor used to be 80 pounds and half 40 pounds, sugar was 210 and half of it is 105 Sudanese pounds. The prices have now gone up.”

[Chaplain Atem]: “Things are expensive in Rumbek because traders pay tax, pay road blocks and they also hire lorries to ferry their goods at a high price. So that’s why traders complain and put high prices of goods here.”

Those were the people in Rumbek complaining of high food prices.