Residents of Bor town in Jonglei State have decried soaring prices of basic commodities amidst economic hardships.
Commodity prices have been sharply increasing in parts of the country including Jonglei since last month. In Bor, as of Friday, a 20 liter of cooking oil increased to 25,000 from SSP 18,000 while a 25 kg bag of beans sells at 21,000 and a 20 kg bag of maize flour increased to 16,500 from SSP 9, 000.
The residents of Bor who spoke to Radio Tamazuj said they could not afford the soaring prices because do not have money.
Akur Ruben said they had to cut the number of meals due to high commodity prices.
“All commodities in the market have shot up. If you ask a trader they say the dollar exchange rate has gone up,” he lamented. A sack of flour is 30, 000 SSP so we have to have to buy things in small quantities.”
Another Bor dweller, David Garang Goc, also decried the soaring prices and called on the government to intervene, saying local residents are suffering because their salaries are small.
For his part, Yach Kuot Manyiel, the Jonglei chamber of commerce spokesman, admitted prices shot up since last month and that they will drop when the dollar exchange rate stabilizes.
“We import goods and as we speak the exchange rate is over 60,000 SSP. Again, a lot of taxes are levied on us from Nimule to Bor so our residents are paying the price for all these factors,” he said. “But if the exchange rate drops, prices will go down.”