Most bakeries closed and flour has run out in Sweida

Most private bakeries in Sweida have stopped operating for three days due to a shortage of flour and the lack of new shipments of bread or fuel. This has led to a severe bread crisis, amid the increasing suffering of the population under siege imposed on Sweida since mid-July.

While bread is a staple food for most families, the crisis has worsened with the breakdown of the only automated bakery in Sweida city due to a technical problem with the burner and the furnace. Technicians have reported an inability to repair the malfunction due to the lack of necessary spare parts.

ANHA correspondent quoted a source in the Bakeries Directorate as saying that private bakeries have not received any flour or fuel supplies for the past three days, with the exception of a limited shipment of fuel, which was distributed to all bakeries pending the arrival of flour allocations.

Relevant authorities are speaking of "promises" that two batches of flour will arrive within 48 hours via UN organizations, which will be distributed to restart bakeries. Until then, bread service is limited to public bakeries operating at maximum capacity, but they are unable to meet the actual needs of Sweida's residents.

Since the beginning of the siege imposed by the transitional government forces in Syria, supplies reaching Sweida have been limited to meager quantities of flour, diesel, and some humanitarian aid, delivered via the "humanitarian corridor" in Busra al-Sham. Meanwhile, the economic and living crisis continues to escalate amid a near-total paralysis of service facilities.

The Syrian Red Crescent had previously refused to allow a 55-ton aid shipment of basic food supplies sent from NE Syria to Southern Syria, demanding that it be received and distributed separately. This request was rejected by the donor, the Mesopotamia Relief and Development Association, which returned the shipment to Hasaka pending transparency.

Sh-S

ANHA