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  • Founded Date August 13, 1907
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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 complained of becoming impotent, a rights group has stated.

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

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

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

Feronia, a Canadian-based firm, stated it was devoted to operating to international requirements.

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

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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 actually received countless dollars from the development banks of Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

“These banks can play an essential role promoting development, but they are sabotaging their mission by stopping working to ensure the company they fund appreciates the rights of its workers and neighborhoods on the plantations,” HRW scientist Luciana Téllez-Chávez said.

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 interviewed more than 40 employees and two-thirds of them “told us that they had ended up being impotent given that they started the task”.

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

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

Ms Téllez-Chávez stated workers who had been interviewed had permeable cotton overalls – not the water resistant overalls.

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

What else does HRW say?

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

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

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

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

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

HRW stated the advancement banks ought to guarantee business they purchase pay living wages to their employees.

What is the UK advancement ?

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 since 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 in housing, tidy water arrangement, health care and instructional centers 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 monetary position to do so presently as it continues to make heavy losses.

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

What does Feronia say?

The business said working conditions had improved substantially because 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 typical employee earned $3.30 per day – greater than what a local teacher would make, it stated.

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

“Feronia operates on a social mandate with local neighborhoods. Without their assistance we would not have the ability to operate. We identify that there is still a lot to be done and are committed to operating to international requirements. We will continue to work tirelessly to achieve these goals,” the company included a declaration.

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