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DR Congo employees 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 actually suffered ending up being impotent, a rights group has actually stated.

Feronia, which controls DR Congo’s palm-oil sector, had stopped working to provide employees appropriate protective devices, 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 greatly in protective devices and all employees were needed to use it.
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Feronia, a Canadian-based firm, said it was committed to operating to international requirements.

The company added that it had actually invested $360,000 (₤ 280,000) on individual protective equipment in the last 3 years, which workers had actually been trained to use, and it had actually executed a policy requiring the equipment to be worn in the workplace.

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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 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 mission by failing to guarantee the business they finance appreciates the rights of its employees and neighborhoods on the plantations,” HRW researcher Luciana Téllez-Chávez stated.

What is HRW’s proof?
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In a report entitled A Toxic Mix of Abuses on Congo’s Oil Palm Plantations, external, HRW said it had actually talked to more than 40 employees and two-thirds of them “informed us that they had actually ended up being impotent because they started the job”.
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Impotence - in addition to shortness of breath, headaches, and weight reduction that the workers grumbled about - were health issues “consistent with exposure to pesticides in basic, as explained in scientific literature”, HRW stated.

“Many [also] experienced skin inflammation, itching, blisters, eye issues, or blurred vision - all symptoms that are consistent with what scientific texts and the products’ labels refer to as health effects of exposure to these pesticides,” the rights group included.
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Ms Téllez-Chávez said workers who had actually been spoken with had permeable cotton overalls - not the waterproof overalls.

“If pesticides unintentionally spilled, the harmful liquid would likely touch their skin,” she included.
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What else does HRW state?

At the Yaligimba plantation, the business dumped the waste from its palm oil mill next to workers’ homes.
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The effluents formed a “foul-smelling stream”, and eventually flowed into a natural pond where females and children bathe and clean 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 stated.
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If uncontrolled and neglected, effluent-dumping might eventually likewise cause fish to suffocate and pass away, or cause large growths of algae that could adversely impact the health of people who entered contact with contaminated water or consumed tainted fish, HRW included.

The rights group likewise accused Feronia of paying “severe hardship” incomes, saying ladies were the lowest-paid, with some earning just $7.30 a month gathering fruit.

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

What is the UK advancement bank’s action?

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

“A treatment plant for POME represents a multimillion dollar investment - money that the business has actually picked instead to invest in housing, tidy water arrangement, healthcare and academic facilities for staff members, their families and other members of the regional neighborhoods.

“It is the objective of the company to construct 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 actually reconditioned or dug 72 brand-new boreholes for the provision of tidy water in the last six years.”
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What does Feronia say?

The company said working conditions had actually improved substantially given that the involvement of the European banks in 2013.

Employees were now paid substantially more than the base pay for agriculture in DR Congo and the average employee earned $3.30 per day - higher than what a local instructor would earn, it said.

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

“Feronia operates on a social mandate with local communities. Without their assistance we would not have the ability to function. We recognise that there is still a good deal to be done and are to operating to worldwide requirements. We will continue to work relentlessly to achieve these goals,” the company included a declaration.

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