Christmas ham chaos extended
IN SPITE of the chaos on Wednesday, Dec, 14 when police were called in to control the crowds, hundreds more Panamanins arrived at 2 am on Thursday at the Christmas fairs organized by the Agricultural Marketing Institute, in the hopes of getting a ham for $8.
The fairs took place in Pan de Azúcar, Nuevo Tocumen, Chilibre and La Chorrera.
The main attraction of the activity is hams offered at $8 each.
People started arriving at 2 a.m. to be the first in line for the fair, which opened at 9 a.m.
They brought chairs, umbrellas and blankets reports La Prensa.
The institute announced that the fairs would be expanded to 17 locations in the interior starting Saturday.
The agency purchased 120,000 hams for $2.4 million from various producers a move that has been described by some commentators as vote buying.
