Tufton - Man of the year

DR CHRISTOPHER Tufton, the minister of agriculture and fisheries, was yesterday unveiled as The Gleaner Company's Man of the Year 2010.

Tufton emerged tops from a list of 110 nominees. He was rewarded for his contribution to public service.

"I am encouraged by the award. It involves a number of persons, and it is a good feeling to know that you are doing something right," Tufton told The Gleaner after collecting the award.

During an earlier interview conducted by Oliver Clarke, the Gleaner Company's chairman and managing director, Tufton said the award was the most prestigious he had ever received.

The minister then gave Clarke, fellow honourees and a host of special guests at yesterday's luncheon, held at the Terra Nova All Suite Hotel in St Andrew, a demonstration of how to plant tomato by inserting a seedling into pre-prepared soil.

"There you are. We have a nice tomato seedling in place," Tufton said after planting the tomato. Clarke had challenged the minister to demonstrate that he could put a practical application to agriculture.

Waiting for the opportunity

A section of the hotel suite was yesterday transformed into a small nursery as potted seedlings sat in a corner waiting for the opportunity to feed a nation.

There were no rice or cassava plants physically on demonstration but it was clear the Gleaner's selection committee, chaired by Professor Gerald Lalor, was impressed by the minister's desire to stimulate rice production locally.

In addition to a plaque, the minister was presented with a framed Gleaner front page which reads: Tufton Man of the Year.

The front-page memorabilia shows the image of the minister walking through a rice farm in Amity Hall, St Catherine.

Tufton, in his bid to reduce Jamaica's food-import bill, has encouraged the cultivation of rice and has put in train programmes to ensure the staple can be grown in the country in commercial quanities.

Among the other achievements of the minister are the successful divestment of Jamaica's loss-making sugar assets, the expansion of greenhouse farming technology and the creation of agroprocessing facilities such as one in Hounslow, St Elizabeth, which is intended to reduce the importation of pepper mash, saving the country US$100,000 yearly.

"Through his intensive efforts to get Jamaicans to eat what they grow and grow what they eat, he has managed to help lower Jamaica's food-import bill. Tufton's efforts have helped create a renewed fervour among Jamaicans to produce their own food and support their own farmers. This, in a year that has been full of challenges," the citation to the minister states.

Meanwhile, Tufton said being recognised for his work in public service represents "a joyous occasion."

The Man of the Year, while holding the glass plaque close to his chest, said it belonged not only to him but to those who work with him to ensure the growth of agriculture.

"In my line of business, you are not told thanks very frequently so, in a sense, this is outside of the norm," he told Clarke.

"Politicians tend to be told all the things that are wrong and very few times the things that are right."

He added: "From that perspective, it is encouraging not just for me, but for others who do what I do and, very impartially, and also, the wider sector, meaning the farmers of Jamaica will view it as an achievement for all of us because production levels are due mainly to them, but to us, we just guide the process."

LOG ON

Get up close and personal with Gleaner Honour Award winners by logging on to www.jamaica-gleaner.com/videos, and watch out, later today, for Gleaner Chairman Oliver Clarke's interview with Man of the Year Chris Tufton.

The 2010 Gleaner Honour Award recipients

Arts and Culture

Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts

Entertainment

Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival

Science and Technology

Professor Wayne McLaughlin

Education

University of Technology

Health and Wellness

Andrews Memorial Hospital

Voluntary Service

R. 'Danny' Williams

Sports

Mike Fennell

Public Service

Dr Christopher Tufton

Special Award

Jamaica Social Investment Fund

and Northern Caribbean University's

Xormis team

BUSINESS

The Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica and the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce

Lifetime Award

Professor Barry Chevannes