Gov�t Owes Publishing Companies $35m

Some publishing companies in the country are laying off workers due to the non-payment of monies owed them by government. Other companies are considering folding up due to the same challenge. The companies include Winmat Publishers Limited, Approachers (Publishers) Ghana Limited, Sedco Publishing Limited and Adwinsa Publications. The Ministry of Education has failed to pay the companies over $35 million for supplying basic schools with Atlas books some two years ago. A letter from the Ministry in June 2013 directing the GETFund Administrator to release the monies to the companies has not yielded any positive results. The Executive Secretary of the Ghana Book Publishers Association, Fanua Atta Frimpong, told Citi News, the situation is unbearable. According to him, payments from the Ministry was to be paid as soon as books were supplied in 2012 �and every effort has been made to get the Ministry to at least listen and make some monies available or even pay part of the money". He insisted that the companies �cannot survive anymore, the publishers can no longer survive.�