The residents of Mapel town of Jur River County in Western Bahr el Ghazal State are concerned about the high price of food commodities despite the recent gains made by the South Sudanese Pound (SSP) against the US dollar.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Monday in Mapel town, several residents said the cost of living remains high for them.
Angelina Ading, a tea seller in Mapel town, said nothing has been reduced despite a drop in the dollar rate across the country.
“I am one of the tea traders in Mapel town and the cost of living has not changed. People said the dollar has dropped but the price of goods in Mapel remains the same as ever before. A kilo of sugar is still at 500 SSP, flour of less than a kilo is at 1000 and a kilo of meat is at 1,500 SSP like before and the prices have not changed,” Ading said. “My message to the government, if the government is hearing my voice, is that let the price of goods be reduced because people are suffering.”
Another resident, Joseph Ungom, said the government should work hard to regulate the prices of goods in the markets since the dollar rate has dropped.
“The government has not put in place any measures to regulate the markets so the mere citizens in the village become victims because they cannot afford. If you look at the salary of a government official, 1,500 SSP, that is equivalent to one kilo of meat in the market and sometimes this (salary) comes after six months. It is not even regular so life becomes very hard, many people in the village depend on leaves (vegetables),” Ungom said.
For his part, the chairperson of the traders’ chamber in Mapel town, Thomas Bol Mawiel acknowledged the high price of food commodities in the town but said it was because the goods were bought when the dollar rate was still high.
“The problem in the market is a dollar problem, the dollar has dropped and the traders in Mapel don’t have profit. These are the things (stock) that they brought in April. The population in Mapel is small and the goods take a long time, two to three months, the goods that we have were brought in April. The price of dura has not dropped but I hope all prices will drop soon,” Mawiel said.
Meanwhile, the Payam administrator of Mapel, William Deng Piem, promised to sit with the traders if an order reaches him from the county commissioner over the matter.
“Let us be patient. We will, as administration, sit down with the traders because other food commodities which are not being imported from outside should be reduced,” Piem said.