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

DR Congo employees 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 grumbled of ending up being impotent, a rights group has said.

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

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

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

Feronia, a Canadian-based company, stated it was dedicated to operating to worldwide requirements.

The firm added 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 utilize, and it had 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), employ thousands of employees at palm oil plantations in DR Congo.

PHC has received millions of from the development 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 failing to make sure the business they fund appreciates the rights of its workers and neighborhoods on the plantations," HRW researcher Luciana Téllez-Chávez said.

What is HRW's evidence?
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In a report entitled A Poisonous Mix of Abuses on Congo's Oil Palm Plantations, external, HRW stated it had actually interviewed more than 40 employees and two-thirds of them "told us that they had ended up being impotent considering that they began the job".

Impotence - in addition to shortness of breath, headaches, and weight loss that the employees complained about - were health issue "consistent with exposure to pesticides in basic, as described in scientific literature", HRW said.

"Many [also] struggled with skin irritation, itchiness, blisters, eye problems, or blurred vision - all signs that are consistent with what clinical texts and the products' labels refer to as health consequences of direct 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 water resistant overalls.

"If pesticides mistakenly spilled, the hazardous liquid would likely touch their skin," she added.
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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 ultimately streamed into a natural pond where women and kids shower and wash cooking utensils.
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"Residents of a village of a number of hundred individuals downstream informed us the river was their only source of drinking water," Ms Téllez-Chávez stated.
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If untreated and untreated, effluent-dumping could eventually likewise cause fish to suffocate and pass away, or cause large growths of algae that could adversely impact the health of individuals who entered contact with polluted water or taken in tainted fish, HRW included.

The rights group likewise implicated Feronia of paying "extreme poverty" earnings, stating females were the lowest-paid, with some earning as low as $7.30 a month gathering fruit.

HRW said the development banks should guarantee the businesses they purchase pay living salaries to their employees.

What is the UK development bank's response?

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

"A treatment plant for POME represents a multimillion dollar investment - money that the business has actually picked rather to invest in real estate, clean water provision, health care and educational centers for staff members, their households and other members of the regional neighborhoods.

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

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

What does Feronia say?

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

Employees were now paid substantially more than the base pay for farming in DR Congo and the typical employee earned $3.30 per day - higher than what a local instructor would make, it said.

It also confirmed that it had invested significantly in access to safe drinking water.
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"Feronia runs on a social mandate with regional 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 dedicated to operating to global standards. We will continue to work relentlessly to achieve these goals," the company included a declaration.

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