PUTRAJAYA, May 28 — Dewan Bahasa Pustaka’s printing contract with Dawama Sdn Bhd comes at the expense of Bumiputera printers, according to four printing and publishing NGOs.

Book Contractor Association of Malaysia vice president, Adi Irwan Azhari, said that if the government continues to extend the contract between publishing firm Dawama and the country’s leading authority on Malay language, other Bumiputera printers might go out of business.

“Only one group will take the bigger economic share, because DBP publishes Malay books, textbooks, and any books in Malay language,” Adi said told reporters..

“And we do not want one side (Dawama) to monopolise the business.”

The NGOs today submitted a memorandum to the government to protest the concession to extend the Dewan Bahasa Pustaka (DBP) contract with Dawama.

Malay Entrepreneurs Printing Association of Malaysia (PPPMM) president, Datuk Badruddin Abu Bakar, said that the memorandum was sent to the Prime Minister’s department this afternoon and that they hope to get a response as early as next week.

Other NGOs involved with the submission of memorandum include Malay business lobby group, Majlis Tindakan Ekonomi Melayu (MTEM) and Persatuan Pengedar Buku Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

Dawama and DBP have a 12-year contract since 2002 and will expire on August 31 this year.

The contract is expected to be extended for another 10 years.