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

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DR Congo workers 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 firm in the Democratic Republic of Congo have complained of becoming impotent, a rights group has said.

Feronia, which dominates DR Congo's palm-oil sector, had actually failed to sufficient protective devices, Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated.

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

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

Feronia, a Canadian-based firm, said it was devoted to operating to international standards.

The firm included that it had actually spent $360,000 (₤ 280,000) on personal protective equipment in the last 3 years, which employees had been trained to utilize, and it had implemented a policy requiring the equipment to be used in the workplace.

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Feronia and its local subsidiary, Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), utilize thousands of employees at palm oil plantations in DR Congo.

PHC has actually received millions of dollars from the advancement banks of Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.
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"These banks can play an essential function promoting advancement, however they are undermining their mission by stopping working to ensure the business they finance respects the rights of its employees and neighborhoods on the plantations," HRW researcher Luciana Téllez-Chávez stated.

What is HRW's proof?

In a report entitled A Hazardous 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 "told us that they had ended up being impotent considering that they began the job".

Impotence - along with shortness of breath, headaches, and weight reduction that the workers complained about - were illness "constant with direct exposure to pesticides in basic, as explained in scientific literature", HRW stated.

"Many [also] struggled with skin irritation, itching, blisters, eye issues, or blurred vision - all symptoms that follow what scientific texts and the items' labels refer to as health effects of direct exposure to these pesticides," the rights group added.

Ms Téllez-Chávez stated workers who had actually been spoken with had permeable cotton overalls - not the water resistant overalls.
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"If pesticides inadvertently spilled, the poisonous liquid would likely touch their skin," she added.
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What else does HRW say?
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At the Yaligimba plantation, the company disposed the waste from its palm oil mill beside workers' homes.

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

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

If untreated and without treatment, effluent-dumping could eventually also cause fish to suffocate and die, or cause large growths of algae that might adversely impact the health of people who entered contact with contaminated water or taken in tainted fish, HRW included.

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

HRW stated the advancement banks need to ensure the services they buy pay living salaries to their workers.

What is the UK development bank's response?

In a declaration, 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 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 picked instead to spend on real estate, clean water arrangement, health care and instructional centers for employees, their families and other members of the local 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 presently as it continues to make heavy losses.

"In addition, the business has actually refurbished or dug 72 brand-new boreholes for the provision of clean water in the last 6 years."
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What does Feronia state?
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The company said working conditions had actually improved significantly given that 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 typical employee earned $3.30 per day - higher than what a regional teacher would make, it said.

It also validated that it had invested considerably in access to safe drinking water.

"Feronia operates on a social mandate with local neighborhoods. Without their support we would not be able to work. We acknowledge that there is still a great offer to be done and are dedicated to operating to global requirements. We will continue to work tirelessly to attain these goals," the business added in a declaration.

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