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 company in the Democratic Republic of Congo have grumbled of becoming impotent, a rights group has stated.

Feronia, which controls DR Congo’s palm-oil sector, had failed to offer 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 devices and all employees were required to wear it.

Feronia, a Canadian-based company, said it was devoted to operating to global standards.

The company included that it had spent $360,000 (₤ 280,000) on personal protective devices in the last three years, which employees had been trained to utilize, and it had carried out a policy needing the equipment to be worn in the workplace.

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

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 role promoting advancement, however they are sabotaging their mission by stopping working to ensure the business they fund respects the rights of its workers and neighborhoods on the plantations,” HRW scientist Luciana Téllez-Chávez said.

What is HRW’s proof?

In a report entitled A Toxic Mix of Abuses on Congo’s Oil Palm Plantations, external, HRW said it had interviewed more than 40 workers and two-thirds of them “informed us that they had become impotent since they began the job”.

Impotence – in addition to shortness of breath, headaches, and weight loss that the employees complained about – were illness “constant with exposure to pesticides in general, as explained in clinical literature”, HRW said.

“Many [likewise] suffered from skin inflammation, irritation, blisters, eye problems, or blurred vision – all signs that are constant with what scientific texts and the items’ labels describe as health consequences of direct exposure to these pesticides,” the rights group added.

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

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

What else does HRW say?

At the Yaligimba plantation, the company disposed the waste from its palm oil mill next to employees’ homes.

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

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

If untreated and untreated, effluent-dumping could ultimately also trigger fish to suffocate and die, or trigger big 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 likewise of paying “severe hardship” earnings, saying women were the lowest-paid, with some earning as low as $7.30 a month gathering fruit.

HRW stated the development banks must ensure the companies they buy pay living salaries to their employees.

What is the UK advancement 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 discharged into rivers considering that the plantation entered remaining in 1911 and does not threaten human health.

“A treatment plant for POME represents a multimillion dollar financial investment – money that the company has chosen rather to invest on housing, clean water provision, health care and educational facilities for employees, their households and other members of the local neighborhoods.

“It is the goal of the business 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 actually refurbished or dug 72 brand-new boreholes for the arrangement of tidy water in the last six years.”

What does Feronia say?

The company said working conditions had actually improved significantly since the participation of the European banks in 2013.

Employees were now paid considerably more than the base pay for agriculture in DR Congo and the typical employee made $3.30 per day – greater than what a local teacher would make, it stated.

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

“Feronia runs on a social mandate with local neighborhoods. Without their assistance we would not be able to work. We identify that there is still a good deal to be done and are committed to running to worldwide requirements. We will continue to work relentlessly to achieve these goals,” the company included a statement.

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