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Bidding document requests ‘Pirated’ textbooks for Education Ministry

Sep 13, 2012 News

–  Luncheon says once technical aspect satisfied, Government goes for best possible deal

The majority of all texts used in the school system, in both public and private schools, are pirated copies. This was further underscored when the Education Ministry requested in a bid document for the supply of text books that “the covers must be in full colour and the text must closely resemble the original text.”

Bids for the supply and delivery of textbooks for the Primary and Secondary Levels were opened by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), Ministry of Finance, Main Street, on Tuesday.

The seven pre-selected entities that were chosen to place bids for the textbooks were Giftland Office Max, Metro Office and Computer Centre, Gandhi Variety Store, F&H Printing Establishment, Pavnic Press, Sheik Hassan Printery and KRSNA and Balram Printery.

 Bidders Amount
Giftland Office Max $155,084,264,
Metro Office and Computer Centre $103,671,162
F&H Printing Establishment $77,382,312
Pavnic Press $256,831,211
Sheik Hassan Printery $78,471,330

 

KRSNA and Balram Printery and Gandhi Variety Store were invited to place bids but did not.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon, said today, that the procurement of the textbooks represents a Cabinet decision that is based on acquiring textbooks, and the effort is consistent with the philosophy Government in over 19 years of procurement.

“We establish the suitability of the service or the goods provided; the quality, and the technical aspect of things. Once we are satisfied with the technical aspect, then we go for the lowest cost.”

He said that Government tries to get the best possible deal which would include procurement officers going out and tracking all the sources of supply of goods and services.

“The procurement, whether it is copyright material, has really concentrated on value for money. I think that is the way in which we project; this is the way in which we justify the approach that is being made. I am certain that the persons with copyright have had their product and its costs and information made available to the Ministry and factored into decision making about procurement.

“And what we ended up with was presented to Cabinet and authorized us to go forward. This is utterly consistent with the policy that has been put in place, quality first, best price final,” Dr Luncheon explained.

Copyright and rights related to copyright legislation offer protection to authors of literacy and artistic works, (books and other writings) musical compositions paintings, sculpture, computer programmes and films.  The protection is offered up to fifty years after the death of the author. In Guyana the Copyright Act 1956 provides protection for copyright and rights related to copyright.

Guyana acceded to the World International Property Organization (WIPO), Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works on October 25, 1994.

These are international institutions which are principally concerned with the protection of intellectual property rights. These institutions predated the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) which also has an intellectual property rights arm known as Trade Related Aspects of International Property Rights (TRIPS).

The WTO was established on January 1, 1995 and to date 153  nation states are members of this powerful trade institution. Guyana became a member of the WTO the very date the body was established.

Target dates were set by the WTO for member states to enact laws and confirm to practices with the TRIPS agreement. The developed countries had one year to do so, that is, by 1996. The developing countries were granted five years to put their legal infrastructure in place, that is, by 2000. Finally, the least developing countries (LDC) initially were granted eleven years to comply, that is, by 2006. This period was subsequently extended by seven years to 2013.

Actually, there are 48 countries which are recognized by the WTO as LDC. Thirty one of these countries to date are members of the WTO.

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