GOVERNMENT'S importation of cheap fertiliser has sparked controversy after Opposition spokesman on agriculture Roger Clarke charged that the product contained unprocessed human faeces, a claim strongly refuted by Agriculture Minister Christopher Tufton.

"This is no time to try and score political points," Tufton said at a hastily called press conference at Jamaica House yesterday to respond to Clarke's accusation.

Opposition PNP spokesman on agriculture Roger Clarke (right) makes a point at a press conference held yesterday at PNP headquarters on Old Hope Road to call for local testing of imported fertiliser he alleges contains unprocessed human excrement. At left is Party chairman Bobby Pickersgill. (Photo:Bryan Cummings)

Government sought fertiliser on the world market after a steep rise in prices from the sole local manufacturer Newport Fersan during 2008.

"We have not imported human excrement as suggested," Tufton said, adding that Clarke was being mischievous and was misrepresenting the facts. "This is a bi-product of a process, which is universally accepted, it is not human excrement," he emphasised.

Tufton argued that based on the science of using bio-solids, microbes could not survive in the process which he said reached temperatures close to 1200 degrees Fahrenheit.

Clarke on Tuesday suggested in Parliament that fertiliser imported by Government was suspect and demanded to be told whether the "human faeces had been properly treated".

Said he: "It is the first time inorganic fertiliser has come to the country that if you throw it out on the ground dog is going to eat it," Clarke said in Parliament. "The crows have come down, rats are eating it because nobody knows whether the human excreta was properly treated or not."

Clarke, at a press conference yesterday at the People's National Party headquarters on Old Hope Road in Kingston, said the extremely foul smell of the product indicated that it might not have been properly processed.

Spurning approvals from the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Florida Department of Environment, the former agriculture minister said he harboured reservations about the safety of the
imported product.

According to Clarke, most local farmers using the product dispensed it by hand and raised concerns about the manual use of the fertliser and the health implications.

He called for local and independent testing, but conceded that if the fertiliser was found to be safe he would have no contention with its use.

"In trying to meet a deadline not everything that was supposed to be done was done," Clarke charged.

Government, however, hit back later in the afternoon with a press conference of their own where the ministries of agriculture and trade sought to clarify the issue of the import.

Minister of Industry and Trade Karl Samuda told journalists that proper procedures were adhered to in the importation of the fertiliser, which was done through the Jamaica Commodity Trading Company, administered by
his ministry.

Tufton said that correspondence was available regarding the testing and approval of the fertiliser and independent testing was in fact done on the fertiliser.

He said both the US state and fed agency confirmed that the product was safe for human handling.

Interim executive director at the Bureau of Standards, Noel Osbourne, who spoke at the press briefing, said the bureau operated in collaboration with international standards agencies and would not have to test products if they were already approved.

"We are convinced, based on all the work we have here and overseas, that the product is safe," Tufton said.

The fertiliser was imported from DiamondR Fertliser in Florida and first arrived in the island more than four months ago.