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

DR Congo employees for Feronia made impotent by pesticides - HRW

25 November 2019
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Workers exposed to pesticides at a UK-funded company in the Democratic Republic of Congo have complained of ending up being impotent, a rights group has stated.
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Feronia, which controls DR Congo's palm-oil sector, had actually stopped working to offer employees sufficient protective devices, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
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The UK federal government's development bank, CDC, owns 38% of Feronia in DR Congo.
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It stated Feronia had invested greatly in protective devices and all workers were needed to use it.

Feronia, a Canadian-based company, stated it was dedicated to running to worldwide standards.

The firm included that it had actually invested $360,000 (₤ 280,000) on personal protective devices in the last three years, which workers had actually been trained to use, and it had actually executed a policy needing the devices to be worn in the workplace.

Africa Live: Updates on this and other stories
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Feronia and its regional subsidiary, Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), use thousands of employees at palm oil in DR Congo.

PHC has gotten countless dollars from the development banks of Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

"These banks can play an important role promoting advancement, but they are sabotaging their objective by failing to ensure the company they fund respects the rights of its workers and neighborhoods on the plantations," HRW scientist Luciana Téllez-Chávez said.

What is HRW's evidence?

In a report entitled A Toxic Mix of Abuses on Congo's Oil Palm Plantations, external, HRW stated it had spoken with more than 40 workers and two-thirds of them "told us that they had ended up being impotent because they started the job".

Impotence - in addition to shortness of breath, headaches, and weight-loss that the workers complained about - were illness "consistent with direct exposure to pesticides in basic, as explained in scientific literature", HRW stated.

"Many [likewise] experienced skin inflammation, irritation, blisters, eye issues, or blurred vision - all signs that are constant with what scientific texts and the products' labels describe as health repercussions of exposure to these pesticides," the rights group included.

Ms Téllez-Chávez said workers who had been talked to had permeable cotton overalls - not the waterproof overalls.

"If pesticides accidentally spilled, the hazardous liquid would likely touch their skin," she included.

What else does HRW say?

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

The effluents formed a "foul-smelling stream", and ultimately streamed into a natural pond where women and children bathe and wash cooking utensils.

"Residents of a town of several hundred individuals downstream informed us the river was their only source of drinking water," Ms Téllez-Chávez said.
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If unattended and untreated, effluent-dumping could eventually also trigger fish to suffocate and pass away, or cause big growths of algae that could adversely impact the health of people who came into contact with polluted water or consumed tainted fish, HRW added.

The rights group likewise accused Feronia of paying "extreme hardship" wages, stating ladies were the lowest-paid, with some earning just $7.30 a month event fruit.

HRW said the advancement banks should guarantee the businesses they buy pay living salaries to their employees.

What is the UK development bank's action?

In a declaration, CDC stated: "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 came into being in 1911 and does not threaten human health.

"A treatment plant for POME represents a multimillion dollar financial investment - cash that the business has chosen instead to invest in real estate, tidy water arrangement, health care and educational facilities for staff members, their families and other members of the local communities.

"It is the goal of the business to develop treatment plants for POME, however is sadly not in a financial position to do so currently as it continues to make heavy losses.

"In addition, the business has reconditioned or dug 72 new boreholes for the arrangement of clean water in the last 6 years."

What does Feronia state?

The business said working conditions had actually improved significantly given that the involvement of the European banks in 2013.

Employees were now paid significantly more than the minimum wage for farming in DR Congo and the average employee made $3.30 each day - higher than what a local instructor would earn, it said.

It likewise validated that it had invested considerably in access to safe drinking water.

"Feronia operates on a social required with regional communities. Without their support we would not have the ability to operate. We identify that there is still a lot to be done and are devoted to operating to worldwide requirements. We will continue to work tirelessly to accomplish these goals," the business included in a statement.
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