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DR Congo employees for Feronia made impotent by pesticides - HRW
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25 November 2019

Workers exposed to pesticides at a UK-funded company in the Democratic Republic of Congo have experienced ending up being impotent, a rights group has stated.
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Feronia, which controls DR Congo's palm-oil sector, had stopped working to offer workers appropriate protective devices, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

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

It said Feronia had invested greatly in protective equipment and all workers were needed to wear it.

Feronia, a Canadian-based firm, stated it was committed to operating to global requirements.

The firm added 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 office.
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Feronia and its regional subsidiary, Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), use thousands of workers at palm oil plantations in DR Congo.
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PHC has actually received millions of dollars from the development banks of Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.
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"These banks can play an important function promoting development, however they are undermining their mission by failing to guarantee the business they finance appreciates the rights of its workers and communities on the plantations," HRW scientist Luciana Téllez-Chávez said.
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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 talked to more than 40 employees and two-thirds of them "told us that they had ended up being impotent given that they started the job".

Impotence - together with shortness of breath, headaches, and weight reduction that the employees complained about - were health issues "consistent with direct exposure to pesticides in general, as described in scientific literature", HRW stated.

"Many [likewise] suffered from skin irritation, itching, blisters, eye problems, or blurred vision - all signs that are consistent with what clinical texts and the products' labels explain as health repercussions of direct exposure to these pesticides," the rights group included.
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Ms Téllez-Chávez said workers who had actually been interviewed had permeable cotton overalls - not the water resistant overalls.

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

What else does HRW say?
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At the Yaligimba plantation, the company disposed the waste from its palm oil mill beside employees' homes.

The effluents formed a "foul-smelling stream", and ultimately streamed into a natural pond where females and kids shower and clean cooking utensils.

"Residents of a town of several hundred individuals downstream told us the river was their only source of drinking water," Ms Téllez-Chávez said.

If unchecked and neglected, effluent-dumping might ultimately also cause fish to suffocate and die, or cause large growths of algae that could adversely affect the health of people who came into contact with polluted water or taken in tainted fish, HRW added.

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

HRW stated the advancement banks should guarantee the organizations they invest in pay living earnings to their employees.

What is the UK advancement bank's response?

In a statement, CDC said: "Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) is an organic mix of natural waste oils and fats and has actually been released into rivers since the plantation came into being in 1911 and does not threaten human health.

"A treatment plant for POME represents a multimillion dollar investment - cash that the business has selected rather to invest in housing, clean water provision, healthcare and instructional facilities for staff members, their families and other members of the local communities.

"It is the objective of the business to build treatment plants for POME, but is regrettably not in a financial position to do so presently as it continues to make heavy losses.

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

What does Feronia say?

The company stated working conditions had improved substantially because the participation of the European banks in 2013.

Employees were now paid considerably more than the base pay for farming in DR Congo and the average employee made $3.30 daily - higher than what a local teacher would earn, it said.

It likewise validated that it had actually invested significantly in access to safe drinking water.
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" runs on a social mandate with local communities. Without their support we would not be able to function. We recognise that there is still a fantastic deal to be done and are devoted to operating to worldwide requirements. We will continue to work tirelessly to achieve these goals," the business included a declaration.

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