MEMBERS of the Ghana Printers and Papers Convertors Association (GPPCA) revealed that a total of 2,409 workers within the publishing industry have been laid off, noting that it was due to government in-readiness to relook at taxes imposed on books raw materials.
The President of the GPPCA, James Appiah Berko added: “The main challenge has been in the realm of taxation, when books are produced and printed in this country, the printer pays 41% in taxes on the input he uses to produce the books. When books are printed outside Ghana they enter our borders free of taxes and duties because Ghana is a signatory to the UNESCO convention called the Floris protocol”.
He also stated emphatically that for the Ghana Books Publishers Association (GBPA) to remain in business, government must as a matter of urgency review the taxes imposed on the input of books production in the country.
According to him, the tax regime on books raw materials is currently around 41% in Value Added Tax, there by compelling publishers to print books outside Ghana.
Explaining further, Mr. James Appiah Berko says the above stated situation has resulted to job loss since publishing companies operating outside the country would have no reason to retain their staff.
Mr. Appiah Berko made these known at the GBPA/ Graphic Dialogue meeting; on the theme, “the Challenges of the Publishing Industry and the way forward”.
Continuing, he argued that another area that has contributed to cripple the publishing industry was government non-adherence to the Textbooks and Distribution Act, which stipulates that government, must print 60% of its books with local publishers.
“Last week one publisher fired 20 people, he told me he had tear in his eyes because these people he fired are all bread winners of their families but he cannot continue to maintain them if he cannot pay them.
We are looking at los of job and the distribution of wealth among our people. Bread winners are becoming jobless due to economic challenges, we are calling on the rulers of the economy to as a matter of urgency arrest this situation”, he emphasized.
Buttressing the point of Mr. Appiah Berko, the president of GBPA, Dr. Samuel Osafo Acquaah who reiterated that government’s policies must be reviewed to revive the publishing industry.
To him, there will be the need to include the GBPA into a professional association, noting that doing so would compel the industry to publish books that conforms to international standards.
To that end, he called for collaboration between members of the publishing industries, support from government and agencies and multifunctional capacity building in addressing the challenges of the industry.
The guest speaker and Head of Department of Publishing Studies at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) registered his total displeasure about the contribution of the key stakeholders in the publishing industry.
Some of them, which he mentioned as Ministries of Education and Tourism Culture and Creative Arts respectively, he stated their contribution over the years is a clear indication that, “ we do not value book and knowledge in Ghana”.
African Eye News.com
