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

DR Congo workers for Feronia made impotent by pesticides - HRW

25 November 2019
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Workers exposed to pesticides at a UK-funded company in the Democratic Republic of Congo have experienced becoming impotent, a rights group has actually stated.

Feronia, which dominates DR Congo's palm-oil sector, had actually failed to provide workers appropriate protective equipment, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

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

It stated Feronia had actually invested heavily in protective devices and all employees were needed to use it.

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

The firm added that it had actually invested $360,000 (₤ 280,000) on personal protective equipment in the last three years, which employees had actually been trained to utilize, and it had actually executed a policy requiring the devices to be worn in the workplace.

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Feronia and its regional subsidiary, Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), 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.
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"These banks can play an important function promoting advancement, but they are sabotaging their objective by stopping working to make sure the company they finance 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 Harmful Mix of Abuses on Congo's Oil Palm Plantations, external, HRW stated it had actually talked to more than 40 workers and two-thirds of them "informed us that they had actually ended up being impotent because they began the job".
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Impotence - along with shortness of breath, headaches, and weight loss that the workers grumbled about - were illness "consistent with direct exposure to pesticides in general, as explained in scientific literature", HRW stated.
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"Many [likewise] experienced skin inflammation, itching, blisters, eye issues, or blurred vision - all signs that are consistent with what clinical texts and the products' labels refer to as health consequences of direct exposure to these pesticides," the rights group included.

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

"If pesticides inadvertently spilled, the harmful liquid would likely touch their skin," she included.
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What else does HRW state?
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At the Yaligimba plantation, the company disposed the waste from its palm oil mill next to workers' homes.

The effluents formed a "foul-smelling stream", and ultimately flowed into a natural pond where females and children shower and wash cooking utensils.

"Residents of a village of several hundred people downstream informed us the river was their only source of drinking water," Ms Téllez-Chávez said.
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If unattended and neglected, effluent-dumping could ultimately also cause fish to suffocate and pass away, or trigger large growths of algae that might adversely impact the health of individuals who entered contact with polluted water or taken in tainted fish, HRW added.

The rights group also accused Feronia of paying "severe hardship" incomes, stating women were the lowest-paid, with some earning just $7.30 a month gathering fruit.

HRW said the advancement banks must guarantee business they purchase pay living wages to their employees.

What is the UK advancement bank's reaction?

In a statement, CDC said: "Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) is a natural mix of natural waste oils and fats and has actually been released into rivers given that the plantation entered into remaining in 1911 and does not threaten human health.

"A treatment plant for POME represents a multimillion dollar investment - cash that the business has picked instead to spend on real estate, clean water provision, healthcare and instructional facilities for employees, their households and other members of the regional neighborhoods.
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"It is the aim of the company to build treatment plants for POME, however is regrettably not in a financial 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 actually enhanced considerably 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 average worker earned $3.30 daily - higher than what a regional teacher would earn, it said.

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

"Feronia runs on a social mandate with regional neighborhoods. Without their assistance we would not have the ability to function. We identify that there is still a lot to be done and are devoted to operating to worldwide requirements. We will continue to work relentlessly to attain these objectives," the business included in a declaration.

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