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

DR Congo workers 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 grumbled of becoming impotent, a rights group has stated.

Feronia, which dominates DR Congo's palm-oil sector, had failed to give workers appropriate protective equipment, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

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

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

Feronia, a Canadian-based firm, stated it was committed to operating to international standards.

The company added that it had spent $360,000 (₤ 280,000) on individual protective equipment in the last three years, which workers had been trained to utilize, and it had executed a policy needing the devices to be worn in the work environment.

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

PHC has gotten millions of 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 sabotaging their objective by stopping working to ensure the company they fund respects the rights of its workers and neighborhoods on the plantations," HRW researcher Luciana Téllez-Chávez stated.

What is HRW's proof?

In a report entitled A Toxic 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 actually become impotent given that they began the job".

Impotence - in addition to shortness of breath, headaches, and weight-loss that the employees grumbled about - were health issues "constant with direct exposure to pesticides in general, as described in clinical literature", HRW said.

"Many [likewise] struggled with skin inflammation, itchiness, blisters, eye issues, or blurred vision - all symptoms that follow what clinical texts and the products' labels refer to as health effects of exposure to these pesticides," the rights group added.

Ms Téllez-Chávez stated employees who had actually been talked to had permeable cotton overalls - not the waterproof overalls.

"If pesticides inadvertently spilled, the hazardous liquid would likely touch their skin," she included.
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What else does HRW say?

At the Yaligimba plantation, the company discarded the waste from its palm oil mill beside employees' homes.

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

"Residents of a town of a number of hundred individuals downstream told us the river was their only source of drinking water," Ms Téllez-Chávez said.
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If uncontrolled and unattended, effluent-dumping could eventually also cause fish to suffocate and pass away, or cause large growths of algae that might adversely affect the health of individuals who entered contact with polluted water or consumed tainted fish, HRW added.

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

HRW stated the development banks need to make sure business they buy pay living salaries to their employees.
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What is the UK advancement bank's reaction?

In a declaration, 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 entered into being in 1911 and does not threaten human health.

"A treatment plant for POME represents a multimillion dollar financial investment - money that the company has picked rather to spend on real estate, clean water arrangement, healthcare and instructional facilities for employees, their families and other members of the local communities.

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

"In addition, the business has actually refurbished or dug 72 new boreholes for the provision of tidy water in the last six years."

What does Feronia say?

The company said working conditions had improved significantly because the involvement of the European banks in 2013.

Employees were now paid considerably more than the minimum wage for agriculture in DR Congo and the typical employee made $3.30 per day - higher than what a regional instructor would make, it stated.

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

"Feronia operates on a social required with local neighborhoods. Without their support we would not be able to operate. We acknowledge that there is still an excellent deal to be done and are devoted to running to international standards. We will continue to work tirelessly to accomplish these objectives," the company included a declaration.

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