dr-congo-workers-for-feronia-made-impotent-by-pesticides---hrw

DR Congo workers for Feronia made impotent by pesticides - HRW

25 November 2019

Workers exposed to pesticides at a UK-funded company in the Democratic Republic of Congo have experienced becoming impotent, a rights group has stated.

Feronia, which controls DR Congo's palm-oil sector, had failed to provide workers appropriate protective equipment, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

The UK federal government's development bank, CDC, owns 38% of Feronia in DR Congo.

It said Feronia had actually invested heavily in protective devices and all workers were needed to wear it.

Feronia, a Canadian-based company, stated it was devoted to running to global requirements.
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The company included that it had actually spent $360,000 (₤ 280,000) on individual protective equipment in the last three years, which employees had been trained to use, and it had actually carried out a policy needing the equipment to be worn in the work environment.

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Feronia and its local subsidiary, Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), utilize countless workers at palm oil plantations in DR Congo.

PHC has actually received millions of dollars from the advancement banks of Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

"These banks can play a crucial role promoting development, however they are undermining their objective by stopping working to ensure the company they finance respects the rights of its employees and communities on the plantations," HRW scientist Luciana Téllez-Chávez stated.

What is HRW's evidence?

In a report entitled A Poisonous Mix of Abuses on Congo's Oil Palm Plantations, external, HRW said it had spoken with more than 40 employees and two-thirds of them "informed us that they had actually become impotent given that they began the job".

Impotence - along with shortness of breath, headaches, and weight-loss that the workers grumbled about - were health problems "consistent with direct exposure to pesticides in general, as described in clinical literature", HRW stated.
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"Many [likewise] suffered from skin inflammation, irritation, blisters, eye issues, or blurred vision - all symptoms that follow what scientific texts and the items' labels refer to as health consequences of exposure to these pesticides," the rights group included.
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Ms Téllez-Chávez stated workers who had actually been spoken with had permeable cotton overalls - not the waterproof overalls.

"If pesticides inadvertently spilled, the harmful liquid would likely touch their skin," she added.
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What else does HRW state?

At the Yaligimba plantation, the business dumped the waste from its palm oil mill beside employees' homes.

The effluents formed a "foul-smelling stream", and eventually streamed into a natural pond where females and children shower and wash cooking utensils.

"Residents of a town of a number of hundred people downstream told us the river was their only source of drinking water," Ms Téllez-Chávez stated.

If unattended and untreated, effluent-dumping might ultimately likewise trigger fish to and pass away, or cause large developments of algae that might adversely affect the health of people who entered contact with polluted water or consumed tainted fish, HRW included.
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The rights group likewise accused Feronia of paying "extreme poverty" salaries, saying females were the lowest-paid, with some earning as low as $7.30 a month gathering fruit.

HRW stated the advancement banks need to make sure business they buy pay living incomes to their workers.

What is the UK advancement bank's response?

In a declaration, CDC said: "Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) is a natural mix of natural waste oils and fats and has actually been released into rivers considering that the plantation entered remaining in 1911 and does not threaten human health.

"A treatment plant for POME represents a multimillion dollar financial investment - cash that the company has actually picked rather to spend on housing, clean water arrangement, health care and academic centers for workers, their households and other members of the local neighborhoods.

"It is the goal of the company to construct treatment plants for POME, but is regrettably not in a financial position to do so currently as it continues to make heavy losses.

"In addition, the company has refurbished or dug 72 new boreholes for the provision of clean water in the last six years."

What does Feronia say?

The company stated working conditions had actually enhanced considerably since the involvement of the European banks in 2013.
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Employees were now paid considerably more than the minimum wage for agriculture in DR Congo and the typical employee made $3.30 per day - greater than what a local teacher would make, it said.

It likewise confirmed that it had invested significantly in access to safe drinking water.

"Feronia operates on a social mandate with regional neighborhoods. Without their assistance we would not have the ability to function. We identify that there is still a lot to be done and are devoted to running to worldwide requirements. We will continue to work relentlessly to accomplish these objectives," the business included in a declaration.

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