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

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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 grumbled of ending up being impotent, a rights group has said.

Feronia, which dominates DR Congo's palm-oil sector, had stopped working to provide employees sufficient protective devices, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

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

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

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

The firm included that it had invested $360,000 (₤ 280,000) on personal protective equipment in the last three years, which workers had been trained to use, and it had actually executed a policy requiring the devices 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 employees at palm oil plantations in DR Congo.

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

"These banks can play an essential function promoting development, however they are sabotaging their objective by failing to guarantee the company they fund appreciates the rights of its workers and neighborhoods on the plantations," HRW researcher 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 stated it had spoken with more than 40 employees and two-thirds of them "told us that they had actually ended up being impotent because they started the job".
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Impotence - together with shortness of breath, headaches, and weight reduction that the employees complained about - were health problems "consistent with direct exposure to pesticides in basic, as explained in clinical literature", HRW said.

"Many [also] suffered from skin irritation, irritation, blisters, eye problems, or blurred vision - all signs that follow what scientific texts and the products' labels refer to as health repercussions 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 water resistant overalls.

"If pesticides inadvertently spilled, the poisonous liquid would likely touch their skin," she included.

What else does HRW say?

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

The effluents formed a "foul-smelling stream", and ultimately streamed into a natural pond where ladies and children bathe and clean cooking utensils.

"Residents of a village of several hundred people downstream told us the river was their only source of drinking water," Ms Téllez-Chávez said.

If uncontrolled and unattended, effluent-dumping could eventually likewise cause fish to suffocate and die, or trigger big growths of algae that could adversely impact the health of people who entered into contact with polluted water or taken in tainted fish, HRW added.

The rights group likewise implicated Feronia of paying "severe hardship" salaries, stating females were the lowest-paid, with some earning as little as $7.30 a month event fruit.

HRW said the advancement banks should make sure business they buy pay living earnings to their workers.

What is the UK development bank's response?

In a statement, CDC stated: "Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) is a natural mix of natural waste oils and fats and has actually been discharged into rivers given that the plantation entered into being in 1911 and does not threaten human health.
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"A treatment plant for POME represents a multimillion dollar investment - cash that the business has picked instead to invest in real estate, clean water arrangement, healthcare and educational facilities for staff members, their households and other members of the local communities.

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

"In addition, the company has actually refurbished or dug 72 new boreholes for the arrangement of tidy water in the last 6 years."

What does Feronia state?

The company said working conditions had enhanced substantially because the participation of the European banks in 2013.

Employees were now paid considerably more than the minimum wage for agriculture in DR Congo and the average employee earned $3.30 daily - higher than what a local teacher would earn, it said.
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It also verified that it had actually invested considerably in access to safe drinking water.

"Feronia runs on a social required with regional communities. Without their assistance we would not be able to function. We recognise that there is still a good deal to be done and are dedicated to running to international requirements. We will continue to work relentlessly to achieve these objectives," the business included a statement.
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