DAA Economic and Agricultural Authority Fire Loss Compensation Program Ends

NORTH AND EAST SYRIA — On 31 December, the Economic and Agriculture Authority (EAA) of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAA) ended the compensation process for the people affected by the fires intentionally set by saboteurs that ravage grain fields over the summer.

The quantity distributed by the EAA reached more than 7,500 tons, according to the compensation statistics tables of the authority. The compensation process included distributing only two materials: wheat or barley, according to the affected season. The amount of wheat distributed as compensation amounted to more than 4,849 tons. Whereas, the amount of barley amounted to 2,762 tons.

The amount of compensation provided by the authority ranged between 20-22 kg per dunum of wheat and 18 kg per dunum of barley. The number of farmers covered by the compensation process exceeded more than 6,000 farmers, distributed throughout North and East Syria.

According to the EAA, farmers of other agricultural crops, such as lentils, cumin, coriander, etc., have been compensated by replacing the lost crops with wheat. Currently, the authority has no method to compensate those affected by the loss of trees and livestock fires.

In a statement, Salman Bardot, the joint head of the EAA, called for farmers to take precautionary procedures to avoid the fires that affected the crops last year. Farmers are recommended to follow proper agricultural planning and leaving “uncultivated areas” between agricultural lands and on both sides of roads.

The fires set last summer resulted in severe damage. Collectively, the burned areas make up some 435,500 dunums, distributed across the areas governed by the DAA, according to the EAA’s statistics. In addition to the damage to crops, 14 people (military and civilian) died while putting out the fires.