The people of Dhi Qar protest the high prices of food basket items and call for oversight

[size=52]The people of Dhi Qar protest the high prices of food basket items and call for oversight[/size]

[size=45]Dhi Qar / Hussein Al-Amil[/size]
[size=45]Hundreds of the people of Dhi Qar Governorate demonstrated on Sunday (November 14, 2021) in front of the governorate building to protest against the high prices of basic materials included in the food basket. Exchange the dollar and improve the ration card materials.[/size]
[size=45]For his part, activist Hassan Hadi al-Iraqi told (Al-Mada) that "the people of Dhi Qar governorate and Tishreen activists demonstrated today (Sunday) in protest against the outrageous rise in the prices of basic foodstuffs," noting that "the rise that is taking place has become burdening the poor, toiling and low-income segments." Dhi Qar governorate occupies the first ranks among the poorest Iraqi governorates, as more than 40 percent of its population is classified among the poor, including 25 percent living below the poverty line. Al-Iraqi added that "market traders took advantage of the high exchange rate of the dollar, and they are now selling foodstuffs and other items at double their previous price," calling for tightening commercial control over market prices and fraudulent goods and reducing customs duties and taxes on basic materials. Dhi Qar governorate occupies the first ranks among the poorest Iraqi governorates, as more than 40 percent of its population is classified among the poor, including 25 percent living below the poverty line. Al-Iraqi added that "market traders took advantage of the high exchange rate of the dollar, and they are now selling foodstuffs and other items at double their previous price," calling for tightening commercial control over market prices and fraudulent goods and reducing customs duties and taxes on basic materials. Dhi Qar governorate occupies the first ranks among the poorest Iraqi governorates, as more than 40 percent of its population is classified among the poor, including 25 percent living below the poverty line. Al-Iraqi added that "market traders took advantage of the high exchange rate of the dollar, and they are now selling foodstuffs and other items at double their previous price," calling for tightening commercial control over market prices and fraudulent goods and reducing customs duties and taxes on basic materials.[/size]
[size=45]For his part, the 58-year-old demonstrator Ali Al-Nasiri recalled the days of the economic siege and the manipulation of market prices by traders, noting that “what the local markets witnessed recently brings us back to the days of the siege, high prices and market instability,” noting that “prices are out of control at the present time, as they are jumping in every day at higher rates than the previous ones.” Al-Nasiri pointed out that “the crazy rise in food prices confused the economic conditions of many, especially the poor segments and classes that abound in Dhi Qar Governorate,” noting that “what exacerbated the crisis is the failure to prepare the ration card items and their insufficiency in covering the needs of the Iraqi family,” stressing that The need to stabilize the distribution of ration card materials and increase their quantities and types in order to maintain market stability and enable poor segments to face the outrageous high prices.[/size]
[size=45]And the Iraqi parliament decided in its numbered session (22) on December 18, 2019 to consider Dhi Qar a stricken city, against the background of the demand demonstrations protesting the high rates of unemployment, poverty and lack of services, which were met with a bloody attack by the security forces on the demonstrators at the end of November From the aforementioned year, it left 50 martyrs and about 500 wounded in a massacre known later as the Olive Bridge massacre. In turn, activist Hisham Al-Sumari said that “the prices of some basic foodstuffs rose to three times their price and others to two times, and most of them doubled their price in an irrational manner that does not even commensurate with the rise in the price of the dollar,” noting that “the prices did not witness a rise in this way until the day the price of A barrel of oil is about $35.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Sumari wondered about "the reasons that called for raising the exchange rate of the dollar at a time when a barrel of oil is sold at more than 80 dollars and with export rates exceeding four million barrels per day," stressing that "the poor classes, people with limited income and small employees of the Iraqi people are the ones who are greatly affected by the approved financial policy. He noted that "the government resorted to reducing their salaries when oil prices fell and raised the price of the dollar with the rise in the price of oil, and therefore market prices rose and weighed on the aforementioned segments." On the other hand, hundreds of graduates of colleges and institutes and other segments of the earners gathered in front of the Dhi Qar Governorate building to demand appointment. Dhi Qar Governorate, which has a population of more than two million and includes 20 administrative units, 10 of which are adjacent to the marsh areas, faces a growing problem of high unemployment rates, especially among graduates, as the unemployment rate is estimated at more than 40 percent among the aforementioned segment.[/size]
[size=45]Demonstrations and demand activities have been renewed in front of the Dhi Qar governorate building and a number of governorate areas since Wednesday (November 10, 2021) to demand job opportunities for graduates, improving services, and increasing the salaries of retirees in proportion to the cost of living and the high exchange rate of the dollar.[/size]
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