LATEST: Photograph — Jordan’s “4th-Largest City” — The Zaatari Refugee Camp
An all-is-well story from Syria’s State news agency SANA inadvertently points to the scale of the Assad regime’s problems amid the destruction in the 45-month conflict.
On the surface, SANA heralds a statement from Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi on great efforts “to alleviate the repercussions of the crisis in Syria and providing citizens’ needs”:
An estimated SYP 12.8 billion [Syrian Pounds] have been dispersed in implementation and rehabilitation of projects within the recovery plan set for provinces to target terrorism-affected infrastructure and facilities, the Premier said.
He added that an amount of SYP 13.1 billion has also been allocated to compensate for private property damage and loss in the provinces.
All of which sounds impressive until you do some basic calculations. At an official exchange rate of about 200 Syrian Pounds to 1 US dollar — a 75% fall in the Syrian currency since March 2011 — this is $130 million to deal with all of the war damage.
That compares with the Assad regime’s public estimate of $35 billion in damage, with the UN putting the destruction at $42 billion. The economic toll from lost production and resources is far higher.
So even with the most conservative figure from Damascus, the Prime Minister was announcing expenditure covering less than 0.4% of the direct cost of the war. And al-Halqi’s assurance that the Government budget for 2015 has “SYP 50 billion [about $250 million]…for reconstruction, infrastructure rehabilitation and compensation for loss” only raises the figure to 0.7%.
The real significance of the Prime Minister’s statement? The Assad regime is so economically crippled that it can barely allocate funds beyond the attempt to hold together basic services. And even that effort is looking tenuous as Damascus tries to billions of dollars more from Iran and Russia in assistance.
Syria Daily, Dec 22: Assad Hosts Iran’s Speaker of Parliament — But No Word on More Aid from Tehran
Syria Daily, Dec 21: Did Russia Turn Down Assad’s Request for $3 Billion Line of Credit?
Photograph: Jordan’s “4th-Largest City” — The Zaatari Refugee Camp
A photograph illustrating the size of the Zaatari refugee camp, now the 4th-largest center for population in Jordan:
Zaatari, 10 km (6 miles) east of Mafraq, is home to almost 85,000 Syrian refugees. There are more than 620,000 registered refugees in Jordan.
Video: Locals At A Water Pump in Opposition-Held Damascus Province
Residents operate a water pump set up by the Damascus Rural Relief Council:
Video: Cameraman Gets Close-Up View of Regime Airstrike
A cameraman gets a close-up view — almost too close — of a strike by a regime MiG fighter:
Islamic State Uses Suicide Vehicle Bombs Against Gas Plant in Homs Province
The Islamic State has used suicide vehicle bombs to attack a gas plant near al-Faraqlas (see map) in eastern Homs Province.
State news agency SANA said that the attempt to blow up two gas factories was thwarted by guards but that there were casualties and “slight material damage”. It added, “No harm was inflicted upon the infrastructure of the two factories, which are still operating.”
