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

DR Congo employees for Feronia made impotent by pesticides - HRW
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25 November 2019
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Workers exposed to pesticides at a UK-funded firm in the Democratic Republic of Congo have experienced ending up being impotent, a rights group has said.

Feronia, which dominates DR Congo's palm-oil sector, had actually failed to offer employees adequate protective equipment, Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated.

The UK federal 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 needed to use it.

Feronia, a Canadian-based firm, stated it was dedicated to operating to worldwide requirements.
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The firm included that it had spent $360,000 (₤ 280,000) on personal protective equipment in the last three years, which employees had been trained to utilize, and it had actually carried out a policy needing the equipment to be used 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 gotten countless dollars from the advancement banks of Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

"These banks can play an essential role promoting advancement, however they are sabotaging their mission by stopping working to guarantee the company they fund appreciates the rights of its workers and communities on the plantations," HRW researcher Luciana Téllez-Chávez said.

What is HRW's evidence?

In a report entitled A Hazardous Mix of Abuses on Congo's Oil Palm Plantations, external, HRW stated it had talked to more than 40 employees and two-thirds of them "told us that they had become impotent since they started the task".

Impotence - along with shortness of breath, headaches, and weight reduction that the workers complained about - were illness "consistent with exposure to pesticides in basic, as described in scientific literature", HRW stated.

"Many [also] suffered from skin inflammation, itching, blisters, eye problems, or blurred vision - all signs that follow what scientific texts and the products' labels describe as health effects of exposure to these pesticides," the rights group included.

Ms Téllez-Chávez stated workers who had actually been talked to had permeable cotton overalls - not the waterproof overalls.

"If pesticides inadvertently spilled, the poisonous liquid would likely touch their skin," she added.
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What else does HRW say?
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At the Yaligimba plantation, the business dumped the waste from its palm oil mill beside employees' homes.
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The effluents formed a "foul-smelling stream", and eventually streamed into a natural pond where women and children shower and clean cooking utensils.

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

If unchecked and neglected, effluent-dumping could eventually also cause fish to suffocate and pass away, or trigger large developments of algae that could adversely impact the health of individuals who came into contact with contaminated water or consumed tainted fish, HRW included.
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The rights group likewise accused Feronia of paying "severe hardship" wages, saying ladies were the lowest-paid, with some earning as low as $7.30 a month gathering fruit.

HRW stated the development banks must ensure business they invest in pay living earnings to their employees.

What is the UK development bank's response?

In a declaration, CDC stated: "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 entered into being in 1911 and does not threaten human health.

"A treatment plant for POME represents a multimillion dollar financial investment - money that the business has actually picked rather to invest in housing, clean water provision, health care and instructional facilities for workers, their families and other members of the regional communities.

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

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

What does Feronia state?

The business stated working conditions had improved substantially since the involvement of the European banks in 2013.

Employees were now paid considerably more than the minimum wage for agriculture in DR Congo and the typical worker earned $3.30 daily - higher than what a regional instructor would earn, it stated.

It likewise confirmed that it had actually invested considerably in access to safe drinking water.
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"Feronia operates on a social mandate with local neighborhoods. Without their assistance we would not have the ability to function. We recognise that there is still a lot to be done and are devoted to running to international standards. We will continue to work relentlessly to attain these goals," the business included a declaration.

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