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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 firm in the Democratic Republic of Congo have actually experienced becoming impotent, a rights group has actually said.

Feronia, which controls DR Congo's palm-oil sector, had stopped working to give employees appropriate protective equipment, Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated.

The UK federal government's development bank, CDC, owns 38% of Feronia in DR Congo.
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It said Feronia had invested greatly in protective devices and all workers were needed to wear it.

Feronia, a Canadian-based company, said it was committed to running to global standards.
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The firm added that it had spent $360,000 (₤ 280,000) on individual protective equipment in the last three years, which workers had been to utilize, and it had implemented a policy requiring the equipment to be used in the workplace.

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

PHC has gotten countless dollars from the advancement banks of Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.
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"These banks can play an important role promoting advancement, but they are undermining their objective by stopping working to make sure the company they fund respects the rights of its workers and communities on the plantations," HRW scientist Luciana Téllez-Chávez said.

What is HRW's evidence?

In a report entitled A Harmful Mix of Abuses on Congo's Oil Palm Plantations, external, HRW stated it had actually spoken with more than 40 workers and two-thirds of them "told us that they had become impotent because they began the task".

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

"Many [likewise] struggled with skin irritation, itching, blisters, eye issues, or blurred vision - all symptoms that are consistent with what scientific texts and the items' labels describe 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 talked to had permeable cotton overalls - not the waterproof overalls.

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

What else does HRW say?

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

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

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

If uncontrolled and unattended, effluent-dumping might ultimately also trigger fish to suffocate and pass away, or cause big growths of algae that could negatively affect the health of people who came into contact with contaminated water or taken in tainted fish, HRW added.
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The rights group also accused Feronia of paying "extreme poverty" incomes, stating ladies were the lowest-paid, with some earning just $7.30 a month gathering fruit.

HRW stated the development banks must make sure the businesses they buy pay living salaries to their employees.

What is the UK development bank's response?
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In a declaration, CDC said: "Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) is an organic mix of natural waste oils and fats and has actually been discharged into rivers given that the plantation came into being in 1911 and does not threaten human health.
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"A treatment plant for POME represents a multimillion dollar investment - cash that the business has actually chosen rather to invest in real estate, clean water arrangement, health care and educational centers for employees, their families and other members of the local neighborhoods.
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"It is the objective of the company to construct treatment plants for POME, but is sadly not in a financial position to do so currently as it continues to make heavy losses.
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"In addition, the company has actually refurbished or dug 72 brand-new boreholes for the provision of clean water in the last 6 years."
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What does Feronia state?

The business stated working conditions had actually improved substantially because the involvement of the European banks in 2013.

Employees were now paid considerably more than the base pay for farming in DR Congo and the average worker made $3.30 each day - greater than what a local instructor would earn, it said.
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It also validated that it had actually invested substantially in access to safe drinking water.

"Feronia operates on a social mandate with local neighborhoods. Without their assistance we would not be able to operate. We acknowledge that there is still a lot to be done and are committed to running to worldwide standards. We will continue to work tirelessly to accomplish these objectives," the business included a statement.

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