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DR Congo workers for Feronia made impotent by pesticides - HRW
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25 November 2019

Workers exposed to pesticides at a UK-funded firm in the Democratic Republic of Congo have suffered ending up being impotent, a rights group has said.
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Feronia, which dominates DR Congo's palm-oil sector, had failed to provide workers appropriate protective equipment, Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated.

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

It said Feronia had invested heavily in protective devices and all employees were required to use it.

Feronia, a Canadian-based firm, stated it was committed to operating to global standards.

The company included that it had actually invested $360,000 (₤ 280,000) on personal protective equipment in the last 3 years, which workers had been trained to use, and it had implemented 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), use thousands of employees at palm oil plantations in DR Congo.

PHC has actually received millions of dollars from the development banks of Belgium, Germany, the and the UK.

"These banks can play a crucial function promoting advancement, but they are sabotaging their objective by stopping working to ensure the company they finance respects the rights of its employees and communities on the plantations," HRW scientist Luciana Téllez-Chávez stated.
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What is HRW's evidence?
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In a report entitled A Harmful Mix of Abuses on Congo's Oil Palm Plantations, external, HRW said it had talked to more than 40 workers and two-thirds of them "told us that they had actually become impotent considering that they began the job".

Impotence - in addition to shortness of breath, headaches, and weight loss that the employees complained about - were illness "constant with direct exposure to pesticides in general, as described in scientific literature", HRW stated.

"Many [also] suffered from skin irritation, itchiness, blisters, eye problems, or blurred vision - all signs that are consistent with what scientific texts and the products' labels refer to as health consequences of exposure to these pesticides," the rights group added.

Ms Téllez-Chávez stated employees 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 included.

What else does HRW state?

At the Yaligimba plantation, the business dumped the waste from its palm oil mill beside employees' homes.

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

"Residents of a village of numerous hundred individuals downstream informed us the river was their only source of drinking water," Ms Téllez-Chávez stated.

If uncontrolled and untreated, effluent-dumping could eventually likewise cause fish to suffocate and pass away, or trigger large developments of algae that could negatively affect the health of people who came into contact with contaminated water or taken in tainted fish, HRW included.

The rights group also accused Feronia of paying "severe poverty" wages, saying women were the lowest-paid, with some earning as low as $7.30 a month event fruit.

HRW said the development banks must ensure business they buy pay living salaries to their employees.

What is the UK advancement bank's response?

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

"A treatment plant for POME represents a multimillion dollar financial investment - money that the business has chosen instead to spend on real estate, tidy water arrangement, healthcare and instructional facilities for workers, their households and other members of the local neighborhoods.
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"It is the aim of the company to develop treatment plants for POME, but is regrettably 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 new boreholes for the arrangement of tidy water in the last six years."

What does Feronia state?

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

Employees were now paid significantly more than the base pay for agriculture in DR Congo and the typical employee earned $3.30 per day - greater than what a local teacher would make, it said.

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

"Feronia runs on a social mandate with local communities. Without their support we would not be able to operate. We identify that there is still a good deal to be done and are dedicated to running to worldwide requirements. We will continue to work relentlessly to achieve these objectives," the business added in a statement.

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