Accra, Nov 23 GNA - Government was on Friday asked to support the book publishing industry to ensure that the industry does not collapse.

"The lack of full government support in the development of books in the past was almost fatal to this industry in Ghana. The current state of the publishing industry is a direct result of lack of attention from government. Its future will continue to be bleak if the neglect continues."

Mr. Elliot Agyare, President of the Ghana Book Publishers Association was speaking in Accra on Friday at the Annual General Meeting of the Ghana Book Publishers Association for the year 2007/2008. Mr. Agyare noted that the book industry should not be seen as a peripheral sector, which must develop on its own adding, "it should rather be seen as one of the core sectors to be nurtured with great enthusiasm in the development process" He said it was unfortunate that the Ministry of Education Science and Sports failed to invite the association during discussions on the New Educational Reforms Policy.

"The book industry has not been engaged on any level, though the new educational reforms was supposed to have started at the beginning of September 2007.There was no engagement during the drafting, the planning and implementation stages even though new books are going to play a role in the new educational reforms", he said. Mr. Agyare called for the implementation of a strategic programme to enable the industry to respond to the national need for change in the educational system.

Issues discussed included the Auditor's report, authorisation of council to appoint and fix remuneration for Auditors, election of Ghana Book Development council members as well as the registration and payment of dues by members.

The election of council members was suspended by a unanimous decision to allow constitutional review whilst the mandate of the current members of the Ghana Book Development Council was extended to April next year.