The Government does not have the backbone to refuse the substandard fertiliser which has now been brought into the country says the Leader of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Sajith Premadasa. He made this statement during a media brief yesterday (01). "Many samples of the Chinese fertiliser failed the quality test conducted by the National Plant Quarantine centre, and the ship laden with substandard fertiliser was turned away. Look at the snobbish nature of these foreign powers, they have sent the ship that was turned away back to the Island. When the commercial attache of a foreign embassy blacklists the Peoples Bank, the Finance Minister says he is not aware of it. Does this Government have no backbone to bring this Ambassador of the Chinese Embassy and explain to him that this is wrong?" questioned Premadasa. He went on to question why the Government cannot explain to the Chinese government that they did not receive a public mandate to bring in substandard fertiliser into Sri Lanka. "Why can't the Government say that they cannot pay for substandard fertiliser? Why can't the Government refuse?," Premadasa asked.