DR Congo employees for Feronia made impotent by pesticides - HRW

25 November 2019

Workers exposed to pesticides at a UK-funded firm in the Democratic Republic of Congo have actually suffered becoming impotent, a rights group has actually said.

Feronia, which dominates DR Congo's palm-oil sector, had failed to provide employees adequate protective devices, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

The UK federal government's advancement bank, CDC, owns 38% of Feronia in DR Congo.
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It said Feronia had actually invested greatly in protective devices and all workers were needed to use it.
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Feronia, a Canadian-based company, stated it was devoted to operating to worldwide requirements.

The company added that it had actually invested $360,000 (₤ 280,000) on personal protective equipment in the last 3 years, which workers had been trained to use, and it had actually executed a policy needing the devices to be worn in the office.

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Feronia and its regional subsidiary, Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), utilize thousands of employees at palm oil plantations in DR Congo.
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PHC has actually gotten countless dollars from the advancement banks of Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

"These banks can play a crucial function promoting advancement, however they are sabotaging their mission by stopping working to make sure the company they finance appreciates the rights of its workers and communities on the plantations," HRW researcher Luciana Téllez-Chávez stated.
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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 stated it had interviewed more than 40 and two-thirds of them "informed us that they had actually ended up being impotent given that they started the task".

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

"Many [also] struggled with skin inflammation, itchiness, blisters, eye problems, or blurred vision - all symptoms that are consistent with what clinical texts and the products' labels refer to as health effects of direct exposure to these pesticides," the rights group included.

Ms Téllez-Chávez stated employees who had actually been spoken with had permeable cotton overalls - not the water resistant overalls.

"If pesticides unintentionally spilled, the poisonous liquid would likely touch their skin," she included.

What else does HRW say?

At the Yaligimba plantation, the company dumped the waste from its palm oil mill next to employees' homes.

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

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

If untreated and without treatment, effluent-dumping might ultimately also cause fish to suffocate and pass away, or cause big growths of algae that could negatively affect the health of people who entered into contact with polluted water or taken in tainted fish, HRW included.
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The rights group also accused Feronia of paying "extreme poverty" incomes, stating females were the lowest-paid, with some earning as low as $7.30 a month event fruit.

HRW said the advancement banks need to ensure the organizations they buy pay living salaries to their workers.

What is the UK advancement bank's reaction?
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In a statement, CDC stated: "Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) is an organic mix of natural waste oils and fats and has actually been discharged 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 - money that the business has picked instead to invest on real estate, tidy water provision, health care and academic facilities for employees, their families and other members of the regional neighborhoods.

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

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

What does Feronia say?

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

Employees were now paid significantly more than the minimum wage for farming in DR Congo and the average worker earned $3.30 each day - higher than what a local teacher would earn, it stated.

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

"Feronia operates on a social mandate with regional neighborhoods. Without their support we would not have the ability to work. We recognise that there is still an excellent offer to be done and are devoted to operating to worldwide standards. We will continue to work relentlessly to attain these objectives," the company included in a declaration.

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