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 actually suffered ending up being impotent, a rights group has said.

Feronia, which dominates DR Congo’s palm-oil sector, had stopped working to give workers appropriate 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 devices and all employees were needed to wear it.

Feronia, a Canadian-based company, stated it was committed to operating to international requirements.

The company added that it had invested $360,000 (₤ 280,000) on personal protective devices in the last 3 years, which workers had actually been trained to utilize, and it had actually implemented a policy needing the equipment to be worn in the workplace.
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Feronia and its local subsidiary, Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), employ countless employees at palm oil in DR Congo.
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PHC has actually gotten millions of dollars from the development banks of Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

“These banks can play a crucial function promoting development, however they are undermining their objective by stopping working to make sure the company they finance respects the rights of its workers and neighborhoods on the plantations,” HRW scientist Luciana Téllez-Chávez stated.
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What is HRW’s evidence?
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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 “told us that they had become impotent given that they began the job”.

Impotence - in addition to shortness of breath, headaches, and weight loss that the employees complained about - were health issues “consistent with exposure to pesticides in basic, as explained in clinical literature”, HRW said.

“Many [likewise] suffered from skin irritation, irritation, blisters, eye issues, or blurred vision - all signs that follow what clinical texts and the products’ labels explain as health repercussions of exposure to these pesticides,” the rights group added.
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Ms Téllez-Chávez stated employees who had actually 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.

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 flowed into a natural pond where females and kids shower and clean cooking utensils.

“Residents of a town of a number of hundred people downstream told us the river was their only source of drinking water,” Ms Téllez-Chávez said.

If unattended and unattended, effluent-dumping could ultimately also trigger fish to suffocate and pass away, or cause large growths of algae that could negatively affect the health of individuals who entered into contact with contaminated water or taken in tainted fish, HRW added.

The rights group also implicated Feronia of paying “severe poverty” incomes, stating women were the lowest-paid, with some earning as low as $7.30 a month gathering fruit.

HRW stated the development banks should guarantee business they invest in pay living incomes to their workers.

What is the UK advancement bank’s reaction?

In a statement, CDC said: “Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) is an organic mix of natural waste oils and fats and has actually been released into rivers given that the plantation entered remaining in 1911 and does not threaten human health.

“A treatment plant for POME represents a multimillion dollar investment - cash that the company has chosen rather to invest in housing, clean water arrangement, healthcare and instructional facilities for workers, their families and other members of the local neighborhoods.
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“It is the goal of the company to develop treatment plants for POME, however is unfortunately not in a financial position to do so presently as it continues to make heavy losses.
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“In addition, the business has refurbished or dug 72 new boreholes for the arrangement of tidy water in the last six years.”

What does Feronia say?

The company stated working conditions had improved considerably because the participation of the European banks in 2013.
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Employees were now paid substantially more than the minimum wage for farming in DR Congo and the average employee made $3.30 each day - higher than what a regional teacher would make, it stated.

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

“Feronia operates on a social required with regional neighborhoods. Without their support we would not have the ability to operate. We identify that there is still a lot to be done and are devoted to running to global standards. We will continue to work tirelessly to accomplish these objectives,” the company included in a statement.
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