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RAMTHA - Ramtha downtown was on Friday a “desolate empty marketplace” as described by storekeeper Sami Mughrabi.
The scene came in contrast with the history of his northern town of about 100,000 inhabitants.
Fridays have for the past decades witnessed thousands of shoppers from the nearby Irbid and other cities seeking the affordable and diversified products brought in from Ramtha’s twin city across the Syrian border, Daraa, which was the venue for the first blood in the ongoing unrest in the northern neighbour.
“To make a long story short, Ramtha is probably the number one victim of the turmoil in Syria,” he said.
Interviewed by The Jordan Times, citizens, merchants and drivers crossing the Ramtha-Daraa route all agreed that their city, less than two kilometres from Daraa, has been, for the past three months, helplessly watching its lifestyle dying, especially after the closure of the old border crossing dividing the two almost identical towns (it has been reopened recently but trade is still weak, residents say).
Mughrabi explained that because all food items and basic commodities sold at his shop are all of Syrian origin, he had to close his 35-year-old outlet for some days because of the closure of the Daraa border crossing by Syrian authorities.
“Is this Ramtha? What’s happened to streets that used to be full of life and a bustling marketplace? Where are the visitors, the drivers bringing and sending people and goods from and into both countries? It is becoming sad here,” he said.
“There are around 1,200 Jordanian drivers who used to shuttle between Ramtha and Daraa and almost the same number from Syria,” the merchant said, adding: “Imagine what will happen to families of these drivers if the situation drags on any longer.”
The deep concerns of Ramtha residents do not stop at losing their main source of income. The blood and marriage ties between the two communities probably make the Ramtha people the most interested in following up Syria news, especially after hundreds of Daraa people were killed at the hands of security services in their country while attempting to quell the popular uprising there.
Mughrabi said hundreds of Syrian women from Daraa and other cities are married to Jordanians who, he said, “are so much connected to and affected by what is going on now in Syria”.
The same complaints were raised by Omar Darayseh, an owner of a fruits and vegetables shop in downtown Ramtha.
Before the beginning of unrest in Syria, he said, Ramtha used to be an attractive market for all Jordanians from all over the Kingdom but has become now “just like any other market in any other city with no edge whatsoever”.
“Bordering Daraa has long been an added value to Ramtha,” he said.
Darayseh noted that after the opening of Daraa border crossing four days ago, Syrian products started entering Ramtha bringing prices of basic commodities to regular levels after they witnessed a significant hike recently due to the shortage created by the security situation.
Preferring to be referred to as only Mohammad, a 24-year-old worker at a cookies and desserts shop in Ramtha said: “What helped us keep our shop open during the past three months was that Syrian authorities did not close the Jaber border crossing.”
Mohammad explained that for long years, Syrian products are brought to Ramtha by taxi drivers from both countries which has long kept prices affordable. But with the closure of Daraa border crossing, traders turned to the more costly shipments through Jaber border crossing.
“Things are getting better now after the opening of Daraa border crossing,” said Mohammad Abu Lahem, owner of a garments shop, who turned to China recently as an alternative source of cheap goods.
A Syrian taxi driver, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said traders and more than 800 taxi drivers have met recently with the Daraa governor, demanding a re-opening of Daraa border crossing which had been closed since April 25.
He said Syrian authorities agreed to open the border crossing, allowing drivers from both countries to only carry goods but not passengers.
“The closure of the border crossing was something disastrous for Daraa people,” he said, adding that “people in Daraa are like people of Ramtha, totally living on passengers and goods transit between the two countries.” |
Amman News 
