DR Congo Workers for Feronia made Impotent By Pesticides – HRW

DR Congo employees 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 actually suffered becoming impotent, a rights group has said.

Feronia, which controls DR Congo’s palm-oil sector, had actually stopped working to give employees sufficient protective devices, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

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

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

Feronia, a Canadian-based firm, stated it was devoted to operating to worldwide standards.

The firm added 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 implemented a policy needing the equipment to be worn in the work environment.

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

PHC has 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 sabotaging their mission by failing to guarantee the company they finance respects the rights of its employees 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 actually interviewed 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 illness “consistent with direct exposure to pesticides in general, as explained in clinical literature”, HRW said.

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

Ms Téllez-Chávez said workers who had been spoken with had permeable cotton overalls – not the waterproof overalls.

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

What else does HRW say?

At the Yaligimba plantation, the company dumped 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 females and children bathe and wash cooking utensils.

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

If untreated and neglected, effluent-dumping might ultimately also cause fish to suffocate and die, or cause big developments of algae that might negatively impact the health of people who entered contact with contaminated water or taken in tainted fish, HRW included.

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

HRW stated the advancement banks should make sure business they invest in pay living earnings to their employees.

What is the UK development bank’s action?

In a statement, 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 came into being in 1911 and does not threaten human health.

“A treatment plant for POME represents a multimillion dollar investment – money that the company has actually chosen instead to invest on housing, tidy water provision, health care and academic centers for employees, their families and other members of the local neighborhoods.

“It is the goal of the company to develop treatment plants for POME, however is unfortunately not in a monetary position to do so currently as it continues to make heavy losses.

“In addition, the company has actually reconditioned or dug 72 new boreholes for the provision of clean water in the last six years.”

What does Feronia say?

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

Employees were now paid substantially more than the minimum wage for farming in DR Congo and the average employee made $3.30 each day – higher than what a local instructor would make, it said.

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

“Feronia runs on a with local neighborhoods. Without their assistance we would not have the ability to work. We acknowledge that there is still a good deal to be done and are committed to running to international requirements. We will continue to work relentlessly to accomplish these objectives,” the company included a declaration.

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