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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 experienced becoming impotent, a rights group has said.

Feronia, which controls DR Congo’s palm-oil sector, had stopped working to give workers appropriate protective equipment, Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated.

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

It stated Feronia had actually invested greatly in protective equipment and all workers were needed to wear it.

Feronia, a Canadian-based firm, said it was committed to running to worldwide requirements.

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

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

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

“These banks can play an important function promoting development, but they are undermining their mission by stopping working to ensure the company they finance appreciates the rights of its workers and communities on the plantations,” Luciana Téllez-Chávez stated.

What is HRW’s evidence?

In a report entitled A Harmful 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 “informed us that they had actually ended up being impotent given that they began the task”.

Impotence – in addition to shortness of breath, headaches, and weight reduction that the employees complained about – were health issue “consistent with exposure to pesticides in general, as explained in scientific literature”, HRW said.

“Many [likewise] struggled with skin inflammation, itching, blisters, eye problems, or blurred vision – all symptoms that are consistent with what clinical texts and the products’ labels describe as health repercussions of direct 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.

“If pesticides accidentally spilled, the toxic liquid would likely touch their skin,” she added.

What else does HRW say?

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

The effluents formed a “foul-smelling stream”, and eventually streamed into a natural pond where ladies and children shower and clean cooking utensils.

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

If unchecked and without treatment, effluent-dumping might eventually also cause fish to suffocate and pass away, or trigger large developments of algae that could adversely impact the health of people who entered contact with polluted water or taken in tainted fish, HRW included.

The rights group also implicated Feronia of paying “extreme hardship” earnings, saying women were the lowest-paid, with some earning as little as $7.30 a month gathering fruit.

HRW stated the development banks must make sure the services they invest in pay living earnings to their employees.

What is the UK advancement bank’s reaction?

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

“A treatment plant for POME represents a multimillion dollar financial investment – cash that the company has chosen instead to invest in real estate, tidy water arrangement, health care and instructional facilities for staff members, their households and other members of the regional communities.

“It is the objective of the company to build treatment plants for POME, however is regrettably not in a financial position to do so currently as it continues to make heavy losses.

“In addition, the company has refurbished or dug 72 new boreholes for the arrangement of clean water in the last 6 years.”

What does Feronia say?

The business stated working conditions had actually enhanced considerably given that the participation of the European banks in 2013.

Employees were now paid significantly more than the minimum wage for farming in DR Congo and the average employee made $3.30 each day – greater than what a local instructor would earn, it stated.

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

“Feronia operates on a social required with regional communities. 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 worldwide requirements. We will continue to work relentlessly to accomplish these goals,” the company included in a statement.

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