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

DR Congo workers for Feronia made impotent by pesticides - HRW

25 November 2019

Workers exposed to pesticides at a UK-funded firm in the Democratic Republic of Congo have complained of ending up being impotent, a rights group has stated.

Feronia, which controls DR Congo's palm-oil sector, had actually failed to provide workers adequate protective devices, Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated.

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

It said Feronia had invested heavily in protective equipment and all employees were required to use it.

Feronia, a Canadian-based firm, said it was dedicated to operating to international standards.
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The company included that it had invested $360,000 (₤ 280,000) on individual protective equipment in the last 3 years, which workers had actually been trained to use, and it had implemented a policy requiring the devices to be worn in the office.

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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.
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PHC has received millions of dollars from the development banks of Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

"These banks can play an essential role promoting advancement, but they are undermining their objective by stopping working to guarantee the business they finance appreciates the rights of its workers and neighborhoods on the plantations," HRW scientist Luciana Téllez-Chávez said.

What is HRW's evidence?

In a report entitled A Hazardous Mix of Abuses on Congo's Oil Palm Plantations, external, HRW said it had spoken with more than 40 workers and two-thirds of them "informed us that they had become impotent given that they began the task".

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

"Many [also] struggled with skin irritation, itchiness, blisters, eye problems, or blurred vision - all signs that are constant with what scientific texts and the products' labels refer to as health consequences of direct exposure to these pesticides," the rights group included.

Ms Téllez-Chávez said workers who had been talked to had permeable cotton overalls - not the water resistant overalls.

"If pesticides mistakenly spilled, the hazardous liquid would likely touch their skin," she added.

What else does HRW say?

At the Yaligimba plantation, the business disposed the waste from its palm oil mill beside workers' homes.
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The effluents formed a "foul-smelling stream", and ultimately streamed into a natural pond where females and kids shower and wash 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 stated.

If unchecked and unattended, effluent-dumping could eventually also trigger fish to suffocate and die, or cause large growths of algae that might negatively affect the health of people who came into contact with contaminated water or consumed tainted fish, HRW added.
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The rights group also accused Feronia of paying "extreme hardship" incomes, saying women were the lowest-paid, with some earning as little as $7.30 a month gathering fruit.

HRW stated the development banks ought to make sure business they invest in pay living earnings to their employees.
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What is the UK advancement bank's action?
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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 given that the plantation came into remaining in 1911 and does not threaten human health.

"A treatment plant for POME represents a multimillion dollar financial investment - cash that the has chosen instead to invest on housing, clean water provision, health care and instructional facilities for staff members, their families and other members of the regional communities.

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

"In addition, the company has reconditioned or dug 72 brand-new boreholes for the provision of tidy water in the last six 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 considerably more than the minimum wage for agriculture in DR Congo and the typical employee earned $3.30 per day - greater than what a local teacher would make, it stated.

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

"Feronia operates on a social mandate with local communities. Without their support we would not have the ability to operate. We identify that there is still a good deal to be done and are dedicated to running to global requirements. We will continue to work relentlessly to accomplish these objectives," the company included in a statement.

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