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  • Founded Date May 14, 2007
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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 ending up being impotent, a rights group has stated.

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

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

It said Feronia had actually invested greatly in protective equipment and all employees were required to wear it.

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

The firm included that it had invested $360,000 (₤ 280,000) on individual protective equipment in the last 3 years, which employees had actually been trained to use, and it had executed a policy requiring the equipment to be worn in the workplace.

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

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

“These banks can play a crucial function promoting development, however they are sabotaging their mission by failing to make sure the business they fund respects the rights of its workers and communities on the plantations,” HRW researcher Luciana Téllez-Chávez stated.

What is HRW’s evidence?

In a report entitled A Poisonous Mix of Abuses on Congo’s Oil Palm Plantations, external, HRW stated it had actually interviewed more than 40 workers and two-thirds of them “informed us that they had ended up being impotent since they began the task”.

Impotence – in addition to shortness of breath, headaches, and weight loss that the employees grumbled about – were health problems “constant with exposure to pesticides in basic, as described in scientific literature”, HRW said.

“Many [also] struggled with skin inflammation, irritation, blisters, eye issues, or blurred vision – all symptoms that follow what clinical texts and the items’ labels refer to as health effects of direct exposure to these pesticides,” the rights group included.

Ms Téllez-Chávez stated employees who had been spoken with had permeable cotton overalls – not the water resistant overalls.

“If pesticides inadvertently spilled, the harmful liquid would likely touch their skin,” she included.

What else does HRW say?

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

The effluents formed a “foul-smelling stream”, and eventually streamed into a natural pond where women and children bathe and wash cooking utensils.

“Residents of a town of several hundred individuals downstream informed us the river was their only source of drinking water,” Ms Téllez-Chávez stated.

If uncontrolled and unattended, effluent-dumping might eventually also trigger fish to suffocate and pass away, or cause large growths of algae that might adversely impact the health of individuals who came into contact with contaminated water or consumed tainted fish, HRW added.

The rights group also accused Feronia of paying “extreme poverty” wages, saying women were the lowest-paid, with some earning as low as $7.30 a month gathering fruit.

HRW stated the advancement banks should ensure the services they buy pay living salaries to their employees.

What is the UK development bank’s reaction?

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

“A treatment plant for POME represents a multimillion dollar investment – money that the business has actually chosen rather to invest in housing, clean water arrangement, healthcare and instructional centers for employees, their households and other members of the regional neighborhoods.

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

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

What does Feronia say?

The business said working conditions had actually enhanced substantially because the involvement of the European banks in 2013.

Employees were now paid considerably more than the base pay for agriculture in DR Congo and the average worker earned $3.30 each day – higher than what a regional teacher would earn, it said.

It likewise confirmed that it had actually invested substantially in access to safe drinking water.

“Feronia operates on a social mandate with regional communities. Without their assistance we would not have the ability to work. We recognise that there is still a fantastic offer to be done and are devoted to operating to global requirements. We will continue to work tirelessly to attain these objectives,” the business included in a statement.

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