Printers urge govt to enforce local printing of textbooks
The government has been urged to enforce the policy of printing all textbooks, exercise books and notebooks locally.
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The President of the Newtown Printers Association (NPA), Mrs Abigail Padi, who made the call, said that was the surest way to create more jobs in the printing industry in the country.
“If we really want to create jobs, let’s print our textbooks, exercise books, notebooks and any other printing work in Ghana,” she said.
Mrs Padi was speaking at the inauguration of the NPA in Accra last Saturday.
The association is an amalgamation of all the printers in the Ayawaso Central Constituency, with the aim of injecting sanity into the work of members.
A 10-member executive of the association was introduced at the event.
Printing capacity
Mrs Padi said the printers had the capacity to print all the books that the government would request them to print.
Besides, she said, the association was negotiating with some financial institutions to extend loans to its members for them to acquire the latest digital printing machines to improve the quality of their prints.
She asked the government to reduce taxes on local printers to lessen their financial commitments.
Community service
Mrs Padi said the association had pledged to supply 2,000 exercise books to all public schools within the Ayawaso Central Constituency.
It would also offer free apprenticeship to the youth as a way of creating jobs for them and embark on regular clean- up exercises in the area.
MP on printers
The Deputy Minister of the Interior and Member of Parliament for Ayawaso Central, Mr Henry Quartey, challenged local printers to focus on carrying out quality printing.
He pledged to assist the association to secure more electric transformers to ensure unimpeded power supply in the constituency.
The Newtown Mantse, Nii Obo Aduananko II, tasked local printers to invest in the latest printing technology to improve the quality of their prints.