People in of the embattled Eastern Ghouta suburbs have recently suffered of soar prices as a result of the siege forced by Syrian regime and closing the last entrance to Eastern Ghouta, as a punishment for controlling some areas of Damascus by rebels. Civilians in Eastern Ghouta became unable to even afford for buying bread as the price of a bag of bread reached to S.P 800.
Abu Hashim, 70-year-old from Douma city was not able to afford the additional expenses due to the huge rise in the price of the bread, who was forced to try alternative options for making bread by himself using wheat and barley.
Abu Hashim explained that he needs two bags of bread each day at a cost of S.P 1,600, making about S.P 48,000, which is far out of his ability to cover, which pushed him to return to the old way of making bread from wheat and barley then bake it of a hot surface, saving by this way more than half the money needed for buying bread from bakery.
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Hand-made bread has become a source of income and a job for many young men as well, Khaled Dahbour is one of them. He works in kneading flour and water, then baking the dough on hot surface to produce bread for people who bring to him their wheat or barley or both, similar to what people used to do dozens of years ago. He explained to Eqtsad that the profession of a “baker “ has returned and provided a source of income for many young men, as people find this way much more cheaper than buying bread from bakeries.
Khalid detailed that he produces bread for S.P 275 fees for a kilo of flour, people for example bring him their flour and he kneads and bakes it, he charges people for the cost of wood needed for baking and gets some fees for his work.
“This way of producing bread has positive effects on young men, they provided job opportunities for young men and others, amid the unprecedented hard economic situation, as it goes for bad to worse as a result of the blockade, but people need to adapt to new conditions till a solution is found”, Khalid expressed.
The price of a bag of bread has gradually increased to reach the threshold of S.P 800 after the cessation of some bakeries from work in Eastern Ghouta due to the scarcity of fuel needed to run furnaces, as well as the rise in the price of diesel to S.P 2,200 per a litre, while it was S.P350 per liter.
$1= 500 SP