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 experienced becoming impotent, a rights group has actually said.

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

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

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

Feronia, a Canadian-based firm, said it was dedicated to running to global standards.

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

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Feronia and its local subsidiary, Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), employ thousands of workers at palm oil plantations in DR Congo.

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

“These banks can play an important role promoting advancement, however they are undermining their mission by failing to make sure the business they fund respects 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 Poisonous Mix of Abuses on Congo’s Oil Palm Plantations, external, HRW stated it had spoken with more than 40 workers and two-thirds of them “told us that they had actually ended up being impotent since they started the task”.

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

“Many [also] struggled with skin inflammation, itching, blisters, eye issues, or blurred vision – all signs that follow what scientific texts and the products’ labels refer to as health consequences of direct exposure to these pesticides,” the rights group added.

Ms Téllez-Chávez said workers who had been interviewed had permeable cotton overalls – not the waterproof 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 next to employees’ homes.

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

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

If untreated and neglected, effluent-dumping might eventually also trigger fish to suffocate and die, or cause large growths of algae that might negatively affect the health of people who entered contact with polluted water or taken in tainted fish, HRW added.

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

HRW stated the advancement banks need to make sure the services they buy pay living wages to their workers.

What is the UK advancement 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 since the plantation entered being 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 instead to spend on real estate, tidy water arrangement, health care and educational centers for staff members, their families and other members of the regional neighborhoods.

“It is the objective of the business to construct treatment plants for POME, but is unfortunately not in a monetary position to do so presently as it continues to make heavy losses.

“In addition, the business has refurbished or dug 72 brand-new boreholes for the provision of tidy water in the last six years.”

What does Feronia state?

The company said working conditions had enhanced considerably because 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 worker made $3.30 daily – greater than what a regional teacher would earn, it said.

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

“Feronia operates on a social mandate with regional communities. Without their support we would not be able to operate. We recognise that there is still a good deal to be done and are devoted to operating to worldwide standards. We will continue to work relentlessly to achieve these goals,” the business included a declaration.

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