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

Feronia, which dominates DR Congo's palm-oil sector, had failed to provide workers adequate protective equipment, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
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The UK government's development bank, CDC, owns 38% of Feronia in DR Congo.

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

Feronia, a Canadian-based firm, said it was devoted to operating to global standards.

The firm added that it had spent $360,000 (₤ 280,000) on personal protective equipment in the last 3 years, which employees had actually been trained to utilize, and it had implemented a policy requiring the equipment to be used in the office.

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Feronia and its local subsidiary, Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), employ countless employees at palm oil plantations in DR Congo.

PHC has actually gotten millions of dollars from the advancement banks of Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

"These banks can play a crucial role promoting development, but they are undermining their mission by stopping working to ensure the business they finance appreciates the rights of its employees and neighborhoods on the plantations," HRW researcher Luciana Téllez-Chávez said.
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What is HRW's evidence?
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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 employees and two-thirds of them "told us that they had ended up being impotent because they started the job".

Impotence - together with shortness of breath, headaches, and weight loss that the employees complained about - were health issues "constant with direct exposure to pesticides in basic, as described in scientific literature", HRW stated.
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"Many [also] suffered from skin inflammation, itching, blisters, eye problems, or blurred vision - all symptoms 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 added.

Ms Téllez-Chávez stated employees 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 state?

At the Yaligimba plantation, the business discarded 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 children shower and clean cooking utensils.

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

If unattended and untreated, effluent-dumping could eventually likewise trigger fish to suffocate and die, or cause large growths of algae that could adversely impact the health of individuals who came into contact with polluted water or fish, HRW added.

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

HRW said the advancement banks need to ensure the services they purchase pay living salaries to their workers.

What is the UK development bank's response?

In a statement, CDC said: "Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) is a natural mix of natural waste oils and fats and has been discharged into rivers because 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 actually picked instead to invest in real estate, clean water provision, health care and instructional centers for employees, their families and other members of the regional neighborhoods.

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

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

What does Feronia state?
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The business stated working conditions had enhanced substantially considering that the participation of the European banks in 2013.

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

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

"Feronia operates on a social mandate with regional communities. Without their support we would not have the ability to function. We identify that there is still a lot to be done and are dedicated to running to worldwide requirements. We will continue to work tirelessly to accomplish these objectives," the company included a statement.

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