Govt must keep its promise to local printers
For many years, one of the biggest worries of the Ghana Printers and Paper Converters Association has been the lack of willingness on the part of government to guarantee its members the opportunity to print textbooks.
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The association tried on several occasions to get the government to adhere to a policy by the Ministry of Education in 2002 which provided that 60 per cent of all government textbooks to be procured by the ministry should be manufactured in Ghana by 2005.
Thankfully, since last year, the government has insisted that all government textbooks should be printed by local printers.
The delay in implementing the policy has hit the publishing industry quite hard. Some publishers who had acquired specialised book-producing equipment but were saddled with debts were compelled to use their equipment to print other things and therefore produced at woefully low capacities. The resultant job losses cannot be overlooked.
We applaud the government for its renewed commitment to implement the policy. We believe that that is the way to go.
As a paper, we believe that beyond the rhetoric, the government must set an agenda which is consistent and sustainable and ensures that the contracts are awarded to the local printers, and also give the manufacturing sector the needed impetus.
It is important that some shady public officials do not hide under the guise of bureaucracy to frustrate the local printers in the award of contracts just to create a situation where bribery and other corrupt acts will be encouraged.
There have been times that the government’s very good intentions have been scuttled by self-seeking and corrupt officials who create unnecessary obstacles.
We suggest that the government, through the ministries of Education, and Finance should have regular interactions and stakeholder meetings with the local printers so that any hitches or implementation challenges can be quickly dealt with.
Many a time, the very good intentions of the government end up only as a dream without being actualised. We sincerely hope that this noble initiative by the government will be carried through.
We are passionate about local printers being given the contracts because that will be the ultimate game changer for many of our local printers.
The benefits to the manufacturing industry and the economy as a whole are simply enormous.
For the local printers, both their top-lines and bottom lines will drastically improve. Their businesses will do far better and they can boast of healthy balance sheets. They will produce at their full capacity, which means their plant and machinery will be utilised fully.
With regard to the economy, more jobs will be created as it is estimated that thousands of jobs will be created directly and indirectly through the implementation of the policy. A lot more will be gained through the raking in of more taxes, and the economy will also grow.
This is a good initiative, and we hope the Association of Ghana Industries will support the Ghana Printers and Paper Converters Association to ensure that the government keeps to its promise.
The success of this initiative can serve as a model that can be replicated in other sectors of the economy.