Hasakah meeting discusses delayed payments to farmers

Hasakah Deputy Governor Ahmad al-Hilali and Executive Council members Khaled Ibrahim and Vivian Baho Ossi met on Thursday with a number of farmers at the governorate building to discuss delays in paying their dues for the agricultural season and the impact on the agricultural sector in the area.

Al-Hilali said the meeting aimed to hear the farmers’ demands and discuss the reasons behind delays in processing their payment invoices. He said the governorate had faced exceptional circumstances, including the silos being filled with produce from previous seasons, the evacuation and relocation of several silos and storage facilities, as well as risks associated with some storage sites, which had led to delays in payments.

He explained that Hasakah is one of Syria’s main agricultural governorates, accounting for more than 60 percent of agricultural production, and that the quantities received by the state had exceeded 1.6 million tons, requiring sufficient liquidity to pay farmers their dues.

For his part, Executive Council member Khaled Ibrahim said the meeting addressed farmers’ complaints, particularly those who sent their crops outside the governorate; to Damascus and Homs, and have yet to receive their dues.

Ibrahim added that the relevant authorities are working to address the farmers’ complaints, with assurances that all payment invoices will be settled by the end of October.

The meeting also discussed securing fuel for farmers, as well as issues related to the cotton crop. Ibrahim said efforts were underway to find solutions to these issues in the coming period.

ANHA