MP Latif provides essentials at half the market price

Our Correspondent CHITTAGONG, Nov 4: In a rare gesture of charity a local lawmaker started selling a good quantity of essential commodities at half the market price to help the poor people of his constituency to celebrate Eid festival. MA Latif, a ruling party MP from Patenga, Bandar and Halishahar, has been selling 10 tonnes of onion, garlic, ginger and salt everyday to thousands of people in 10 wards in the city from which he was elected to parliament in 2009. Sources said that the MP through his workers is selling onion at Tk 15 per kilogram, garlic at Tk 25 a kg, ginger at Tk 15 a kg and salt at Tk 5 a kg. Currently onion is selling at Tk 30 per kg, garlic at Tk 50, ginger at Tk 60 and salt at Tk 15 per kg in the local market. Hundreds of people, mostly workers of readymade garments and other factories, were seen in long queue to buy goods at highly subsidized rate while MA Latif MP was monitoring. He said the subsidized sale of essentials started from October 27 and will continue until November 6. The Eid-ul-Azha will be held on November 7. The Awami League MP said he had been procuring the food items at market price and selling the same to people at half the procurement price during the two Eids for the last two years.