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 company in the Democratic Republic of Congo have actually suffered becoming impotent, a rights group has actually said.
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Feronia, which controls DR Congo's palm-oil sector, had actually failed to provide workers 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 heavily in protective equipment and all employees were needed to wear it.

Feronia, a Canadian-based firm, said it was committed to running to global requirements.

The company included that it had invested $360,000 (₤ 280,000) on individual protective equipment in the last three years, which workers had actually been trained to utilize, and it had 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), employ 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 Netherlands and the UK.

"These banks can play a crucial function promoting development, however they are sabotaging their objective by failing to make sure the company they fund respects the rights of its workers and communities on the plantations," HRW scientist 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 stated it had talked to more than 40 employees and two-thirds of them "told us that they had actually become impotent considering that they started the task".

Impotence - in addition to shortness of breath, headaches, and weight loss that the workers complained about - were health issues "consistent with direct exposure to pesticides in general, as described in scientific literature", HRW said.

"Many [also] experienced skin irritation, irritation, blisters, eye problems, or blurred vision - all signs that are constant with what clinical texts and the items' labels explain as health repercussions of exposure to these pesticides," the rights group included.

Ms Téllez-Chávez stated employees who had been talked to had permeable cotton overalls - not the water resistant overalls.

"If pesticides accidentally 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 workers' homes.
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The effluents formed a "foul-smelling stream", and eventually flowed into a natural pond where females and children shower and wash cooking utensils.

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

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

The rights group also accused Feronia of paying "severe poverty" salaries, saying females were the lowest-paid, with some earning just $7.30 a month gathering fruit.

HRW stated the advancement banks need to guarantee the businesses they buy pay living wages to their workers.

What is the UK development bank's action?

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

"A treatment plant for POME represents a multimillion dollar investment - money that the company has chosen rather to spend on housing, tidy water arrangement, health care and academic centers for employees, their families and other members of the local 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 currently as it continues to make heavy losses.
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"In addition, the business has actually reconditioned or dug 72 brand-new boreholes for the arrangement of tidy water in the last 6 years."

What does Feronia say?

The company stated working conditions had improved significantly considering that the involvement of the European banks in 2013.

Employees were now paid substantially more than the minimum wage for farming in DR Congo and the average worker made $3.30 each day - greater than what a regional teacher would make, it said.

It also confirmed that it had actually invested substantially in access to safe drinking water.
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"Feronia operates on a social required with regional communities. Without their assistance we would not have the ability to operate. We acknowledge that there is still a fantastic deal to be done and are committed to running to worldwide requirements. We will continue to work relentlessly to accomplish these objectives," the business added in a statement.

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