Administrative order defining hoarding on cards
August 05, 2007 00:00:00
The government is actively considering promulgating an anti-hoarding act through ordinance apprehending hoarding of essentials during the flood and post-flood periods, reports UNB.
Sources said it is natural that during the floods and post-flood period prices of essential commodities shoot up and hoarders stock these items to create artificial crisis for netting windfall profits.
"Now the government is thinking about averting that situation, and for that they are actively considering promulgating the ordinance," said one official of the ministry concerned.
The caretaker government, after assuming power on January 11, conducted drives against the hoarders and finalised an anti-hoarding act in March through consulting stakeholders.
But the move against hoarders and promulgating an anti-hoarding act halted after a while.
Commerce Ministry sources said the high-ups of the government are now very keen on promulgating the anti-hoarding act for the convenience of the countrymen, as market seemed unmanageable amid galloping commodity prices despite budgetary measures like duty waivers.
"We are formulating Anti-Hoarding Act," Finance Adviser Dr Mirza Azizul Islam today (Saturday) said to newsmen at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Center.
Sources at the Commerce Ministry said that the approval would be given shortly, and after that, it would go for vetting by Law Ministry.
They said that the time for stocking most of the essential nine items under purview of the measures would be shortened.
"Most of the timeframes will be decreased-very little will be increased," said a senior official of the Commerce Ministry.