THE procurement of and photocopying of textbooks are substantially quite different issues and government feels no urge to respond to accusations and comments being made by the opposition Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon said today.

Following today’s post-Cabinet media briefing the HPS told reporters who raised the issue that “procurement principles are public principles and when they are questioned and queried, there are specific facilities available to those who feel grieved. I don’t believe it should take on that level of significance what politicians are saying.”
Dr. Luncheon advised members of the private media that the issue is an industrial matter, and government’s attention to how they address this in the terms of procurement of text books “would be of more interest than how the government responds to political machinations, responses and articulation” on this matter. “We are not really motivated to do anything about what politicians say,” he declared.
He further advised the reporters that government will be engaged with the publishers and not worrying with what the media and the politicians say, because they do not figure significantly in Government’s handling of the matter.
Dr. Luncheon however, gave the assurance that while the matter involves Government and those from whom the text books are procured, interactions are ongoing and will continue with the editors, owners, and writers.
The issue of textbook procurement surfaced last week with the media reporting that Government is infringing on copyright laws. The focus was on one of the policy considerations for procurement tenders, which stated that the books supplied, must be as close as possible to the original text.