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 company in the Democratic Republic of Congo have complained of becoming impotent, a rights group has stated.
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Feronia, which controls DR Congo's palm-oil sector, had failed to give workers appropriate protective equipment, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

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

It stated Feronia had invested greatly in protective equipment and all workers were needed to wear it.
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Feronia, a Canadian-based company, stated it was dedicated to running to international standards.

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

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Feronia and its local subsidiary, Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), employ countless workers 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.

"These banks can play an important function promoting advancement, however they are undermining their objective by failing to guarantee the business they fund respects the rights of its workers and neighborhoods on the plantations," HRW researcher Luciana Téllez-Chávez said.
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What is HRW's proof?
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In a report entitled A Toxic Mix of Abuses on Congo's Oil Palm Plantations, external, HRW said it had actually interviewed more than 40 employees and two-thirds of them "informed us that they had actually ended up being impotent considering that they began the job".

Impotence - along with 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 clinical literature", HRW said.
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"Many [likewise] suffered from skin inflammation, itching, blisters, eye issues, or blurred vision - all symptoms that are constant with what clinical texts and the products' labels explain as health repercussions of exposure to these pesticides," the rights group added.

Ms Téllez-Chávez stated employees who had been spoken with had permeable cotton overalls - not the water resistant overalls.
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"If pesticides accidentally spilled, the hazardous liquid would likely touch their skin," she included.
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What else does HRW state?

At the Yaligimba plantation, the business dumped the waste from its palm oil mill beside workers' homes.

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

"Residents of a village of numerous hundred individuals downstream informed us the river was their only source of drinking water," Ms Téllez-Chávez said.

If uncontrolled and untreated, effluent-dumping might eventually also trigger fish to suffocate and pass away, or trigger large developments of algae that might negatively affect the health of people who came into contact with contaminated water or consumed tainted fish, HRW included.

The rights group likewise accused Feronia of paying "extreme hardship" salaries, saying women were the lowest-paid, with some earning as low as $7.30 a month gathering fruit.
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HRW stated the advancement banks need to guarantee the businesses they buy pay living salaries to their workers.

What is the UK advancement 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 actually been discharged into rivers given that the plantation came into being in 1911 and does not threaten human health.

"A treatment plant for POME represents a multimillion dollar financial investment - cash that the company has actually chosen instead to invest in housing, clean water provision, health care and for workers, their families and other members of the regional communities.
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"It is the aim of the business to develop treatment plants for POME, but is unfortunately not in a financial position to do so presently as it continues to make heavy losses.

"In addition, the company has actually refurbished 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 improved significantly given that the involvement of the European banks in 2013.

Employees were now paid substantially more than the minimum wage for agriculture in DR Congo and the average worker earned $3.30 daily - greater than what a regional instructor would make, it said.

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

"Feronia runs on a social required with local neighborhoods. Without their assistance we would not have the ability to operate. We acknowledge that there is still a good deal to be done and are devoted to operating to global standards. We will continue to work relentlessly to accomplish these objectives," the business included a declaration.

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