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

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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 experienced ending up being impotent, a rights group has said.

Feronia, which controls DR Congo's palm-oil sector, had failed to provide employees appropriate protective devices, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
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The UK federal government's advancement bank, CDC, owns 38% of Feronia in DR Congo.
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It stated Feronia had actually invested heavily in protective equipment and all employees were required to wear it.

Feronia, a Canadian-based firm, said it was committed to operating to international requirements.

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

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Feronia and its regional subsidiary, Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), employ countless employees at palm oil plantations in DR Congo.

PHC has received countless dollars from the advancement banks of Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

"These banks can play a crucial role promoting development, but they are sabotaging their mission by failing to ensure the company they finance respects the rights of its workers and communities on the plantations," HRW scientist Luciana Téllez-Chávez said.

What is HRW's proof?
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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 workers and two-thirds of them "told us that they had become impotent given that they began the job".

Impotence - together with shortness of breath, headaches, and weight-loss that the employees complained about - were illness "constant with direct exposure to pesticides in general, as explained in clinical literature", HRW said.

"Many [also] suffered from skin irritation, irritation, blisters, eye problems, or blurred vision - all symptoms that follow what clinical texts and the items' labels describe as health effects of direct exposure to these pesticides," the rights group added.
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Ms Téllez-Chávez stated employees who had actually been talked to had permeable cotton overalls - not the water resistant overalls.

"If pesticides inadvertently spilled, the hazardous liquid would likely touch their skin," she added.

What else does HRW say?

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

The effluents formed a "foul-smelling stream", and eventually streamed into a natural pond where females and kids bathe and clean cooking utensils.

"Residents of a town of several hundred people downstream informed us the river was their only source of drinking water," Ms Téllez-Chávez said.

If uncontrolled and unattended, effluent-dumping might eventually also trigger fish to suffocate and die, or trigger large growths of algae that might negatively impact the health of people who came into contact with polluted water or taken in tainted fish, HRW added.

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

HRW stated the development banks need to make sure the businesses they purchase pay living incomes to their workers.

What is the UK advancement bank's response?

In a statement, CDC stated: "Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) is a natural mix of natural waste oils and fats and has actually been released into rivers since the plantation entered into being 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, clean water provision, and academic centers for employees, their households and other members of the regional neighborhoods.

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

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

What does Feronia state?

The business said working conditions had actually enhanced significantly given that the participation of the European banks in 2013.
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Employees were now paid considerably more than the minimum wage for farming in DR Congo and the typical worker earned $3.30 per day - higher than what a local instructor would earn, it stated.

It also verified that it had invested substantially in access to safe drinking water.

"Feronia operates on a social required with regional communities. Without their assistance we would not be able to function. We identify that there is still a good deal to be done and are dedicated to operating to worldwide standards. We will continue to work tirelessly to accomplish these objectives," the company added in a declaration.
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