Fire consumes date palm groves in Sudan’s Northern State

Farmers could do nothing but watch as more than 1,000 fruit-laden date palms were devoured by fire at Artamoga in El Debba locality in the Northern State on Sunday.

One of the residents of the area who witnessed the fire said that the authorities tried to extinguish it, but failed because of the weakness of their capabilities. “They could only watch as all the trees were consumed before their eyes”.

Sidahmad Hassan said that Artamoga is considered one of the most productive areas of date palms in El Debba locality. Civil Defence Police Director of the area, Colonel Ibrahim El Shush, said in a press statement that fires have damaged 36 per cent of date palms in the period from 2007 until 2015.

In July 2014, the Nubian development and resistance to construction of Dal dam corporation estimated that more than 140,000 palm trees that have been subjected to arson in the region since 2006 at a cost of more than SDG 7 billion.

Many people connect the repeated palm fires with the government’s scheme of evacuation of the region for the benefit of investors and construction of dams.