STC imposes large royalties on merchants in Aden

ADEN, June 30 (YPA) – The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) has imposed additional duties on goods by 5 percent rate, in mid of the growing wave of price increases and the continual collapse of the local currency exchange rate in Aden province, southern Yemen.

According to local sources in Aden, the merchants rejected this measure, which they described as “unfair”, threatening to resort to the judiciary to stop it, and to divert the goods import track from the port of Aden to the port of Mukalla in Hadramout province and Shahin crossing in Mahra province, where the cost is less than that in the STC areas.

The sources pointed out that the STC’s decision raised a wave of resentment and anger among the merchants, who said that it would contribute to doubling the prices and increasing the costs for them and the burdens on citizens.

Since the STC announced its self-administration in Aden in last April, merchants’ complaints about its practices against them have increased, the last of which was the imposition of exorbitant taxes on them by its armed militias in mid of this month.

YPA