The Printing Profession In Sierra Leone

INTRODUCTION

From the surf beach locations of the south-west, the Republic of Sierra Leone rises in a flight of irregular methods to the broad plateau of the sick-described Atlantic/Niger watershed at the north-eastern frontier.
She is uncovered concerning the Republic of Guinea to the North, the Republic of Liberia to the East and Atlantic Ocean to the West with an spot of 71,740 square kilometers and a populace of 4.9 million, considerably of which is urban based.

Printing is the artwork of reproducing originals which could be text, drawings or pictures, both black and white or coloured, by different printing methods, countless times. The process of generation could either be Reduction (elevated surface), Planography (flat floor) or Gravure (recessed surface). Through either method ink of any colour is transferred on to a wide wide range of printing inventory this sort of as paper, bottles, plastic and paper generally acknowledged as ‘substrate (Head,1986).

Printing has had its origins for a long time (dated back close to 768-770 kind Japan) but fashionable printing could be traced to the 15thcentury next the creation of the printing press by Johann Gutenberg. In Sierra Leone, printing commenced pursuing the basis of the colony but the push was burnt down when the French attacked the colony in 1794. In 1796 a different printing press was set up. At the preliminary levels of the business, the printing push was confronted with numerous problems among the which was that of housing as it had no making. That’s why it was very first found at Water Avenue, presently Wallace Johnson Avenue, then relocated to Fort Thornton exactly where the existing Condition Residence is and ultimately to the Secretariat making. Once again for want of suitable site it was moved to George Avenue exactly where it was named Governing administration Printing’. About 1808 it became an independent unit whereby typesetting was accomplished by hand composition utilizing foundry types with printing devices operated manually by foot (Davies,1997). The sector commenced producing into total equipment when on the 26th Oct, 1927 it was electrified and energy pushed mechanical composition and letterpress printing devices had been mounted. During this interval the Section was operated beneath the Colonial Secretary’s Office but after a sequence of administrative adjustments it was transferred to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting less than which it operates to day. E.A.F. Brandon was appointed as its initially indigenous head in 1950(Davies,1997).

Albeit the marketplace has had a very gradual advancement considering the fact that its inception and until finally recently the business was purely a federal government problem. Nevertheless considering that the 1940s private folks began investing in the market by working printing residences engaged in standard jobbing and newspaper production. Noteworthy ended up Humble Noble Printing, the Guardian Press and Bangmolo Press, the Bunumbu Push, Oduntor Push, New Era printing, the Industrial Printing Company, the Daily Mail and Atlantic Printers commenced. The functions of some of these presses was shorter-lived because of to money constraints. Notwithstanding the Govt Printing Section continued to improve steadily with enhanced modern technological know-how. In addition to the printing of authorities publications, the market started printing textbooks, work out publications notebooks and other professional careers for improve income, consequently decreasing the country’s dependence on imported printed make any difference.

The spread of Printing in Sierra Leone took a different type there is the Govt Printing Department, owned and funded by the governing administration the private sector, owned and funded by people today and In-plant printing models owned by corporations purely for their possess printing specifications this kind of as the Financial institution of Sierra Leone, the Bunumbu Press and that at Njala College School. Fourah Bay Faculty has a Bindery. Presently the personal sector has outgrown the Authorities Printing Department while the latter is the biggest one printing push, using the major quantity of staff members. There are practically thirty (30) privately owned presses the greatest selection being concentrated in Freetown. In buy to carry some advancement in the profession, printers bought together to form the Sierra Leone Association of Printers on the 27th November 1992,with the late Mr Lissa O. Duramany as initial President. In pursuits of their aims the Nationwide Institute of Printing and Engineering was proven for the schooling of printers

Difficulties Dealing with THE Sector

Enormous Cash Outlay
Printing presses are less than-funded. Printing is highly technological and mechanic and requires cash. The cost of devices and equipment is high and demands enough international exchange. This has left many keen and hugely experienced printers handicapped in creating printing presses.

Profiteering
The occupation is just one that is minimum safeguarded both from the legislative point of look at or from the printers them selves. There are many back street and portfolio printers in Sierra Leone right now who in most scenarios love the viability of the Printing Field much more than the qualified printers who do the job for the study course. The resultant impact is that there is no plough-again into the business. The introduction of the Indigenous Trade Security Act of 1969 has performed extremely small to secure the marketplace from infiltration by foreigners, who have more money electricity, and can very easily get accessibility to financial institution financial loans than the citizens.

Spare Parts and Elements

One particular major problem facing the marketplace is the unavailability of spare sections and supplies. There is no graphic art firm for selling spare pieces and elements. This indicates that the alternative of spares and even elements get a extremely prolonged time as they have to be imported. Complementing this problem is that of sustainability thanks to deficiency of maintenance of equipment and knowledgeable workers to undertake the job. What is additional there are hardly services for more instruction to boost the ton of printers.

Authorities Regulations
About the years, the govt experienced released actions that have virtually crippled the industry such as the large import responsibilities, income tax, surtax on turnover and financial institution commission on acquisition of foreign exchange. These have remaining importers with no different but to minimize, or even prevent importing. As a final result, quite a few printers now depend on petty traders who invade these rules but at a substantial cost. Around and higher than there is frequent lack of electrical power source from the Countrywide Ability Authority which deters the completion of employment. What is extra the occupation is characterised by lack of coordination and cooperation among the printers deficiency of interest in the marketing of the trade deficiency of competitors as the awareness of what a “superior printing occupation is”. This has led to greed and selfishness, therefore opening the door to exploitation by ‘portfolio printers’ non-printers and foreigners.

Some Remedial Actions

In order to boost the printing business, the subsequent are deserving of note:

o The establishment of a National Printing Institute in which persons from in and outside the career could have access to coaching services. Printers need to pull their methods in help of this Institute .
o A graphic arts shop ought to be established where printing resources and spare materials could be availed.

o Completely ready finance and foreign exchange should really be available for the buy of spare pieces and supplies.
o There should be cooperation amongst printers to bolster the Printers’ Association.
o Printers should really guarantee continuous power provide with the provision of power crops to complement the companies of the National Electricity Authority. Only via the implementation of the aforementioned could the industry be revived and sustained for posterity.

Printing is a single of the most crucial usually means of mass interaction along with radio, motion images and television. In a lot of international locations specially designed kinds, printing is a massive business enterprise in terms of once-a-year income and the variety of institutions. In Sierra Leone, even so, the printing market is a reasonably tiny business. The most popular products the sector is engaged in are guides, journals, newspapers, calendars, souvenirs, post cards dominated crafting tablets and copy of artwork functions. Invariably this article looks at the origins of the sector in Sierra Leone, the distinct styles of industries that have been recognized around the a long time and the challenges faced by the market,.