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.
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Feronia, which controls DR Congo’s palm-oil sector, had actually stopped working to give employees adequate 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.

It said Feronia had invested greatly in protective devices and all workers were needed to use it.
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Feronia, a Canadian-based company, said it was devoted to operating to worldwide standards.

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

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

"These banks can play an essential function promoting development, however they are sabotaging their mission by stopping working to make sure the company they finance respects the rights of its employees and neighborhoods on the plantations,” HRW scientist Luciana Téllez-Chávez stated.
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What is HRW’s proof?

In a report entitled A Hazardous Mix of Abuses on Congo’s Oil Palm Plantations, external, HRW said it had actually talked to more than 40 workers and two-thirds of them “informed us that they had actually ended up being impotent since they began the task”.

Impotence - in addition to shortness of breath, headaches, and weight loss that the workers grumbled about - were health issue “consistent with direct exposure to pesticides in general, as described in clinical literature”, HRW said.
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"Many [likewise] suffered from skin inflammation, itchiness, blisters, eye problems, or blurred vision - all symptoms that are constant with what clinical texts and the products’ labels refer to as health consequences of exposure to these pesticides,” the rights group added.
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Ms Téllez-Chávez said workers who had been talked to had permeable cotton overalls - not the waterproof overalls.

"If pesticides accidentally spilled, the poisonous liquid would likely touch their skin,” she included.

What else does HRW state?

At the Yaligimba plantation, the company disposed the waste from its palm oil mill beside employees’ homes.

The effluents formed a “foul-smelling stream”, and eventually streamed into a natural pond where females and children shower and clean cooking utensils.

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

If uncontrolled and unattended, effluent-dumping might eventually also cause fish to suffocate and pass away, or trigger big growths of algae that could adversely impact the health of individuals who entered contact with contaminated water or taken in tainted fish, HRW included.
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The rights group also of paying “extreme poverty” earnings, saying women were the lowest-paid, with some earning just $7.30 a month event fruit.

HRW said the advancement banks should guarantee the organizations they invest in pay living earnings to their employees.

What is the UK advancement bank’s action?

In a declaration, CDC stated: “Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) is an organic mix of natural waste oils and fats and has actually been released into rivers given that the plantation came into being in 1911 and does not threaten human health.

"A treatment plant for POME represents a multimillion dollar financial investment - cash that the business has actually selected rather to invest on real estate, clean water arrangement, healthcare and educational facilities for employees, their households and other members of the local neighborhoods.
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"It is the goal of the company to develop treatment plants for POME, however is sadly not in a monetary position to do so currently as it continues to make heavy losses.

"In addition, the business has actually refurbished or dug 72 new boreholes for the arrangement of clean water in the last 6 years.“

What does Feronia say?

The company said working conditions had actually enhanced significantly considering 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 average employee made $3.30 daily - greater than what a local instructor would make, it said.

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

"Feronia runs on a social required with regional communities. Without their support we would not be able to work. We recognise that there is still a lot to be done and are devoted to running to worldwide requirements. We will continue to work tirelessly to accomplish these objectives,” the business added in a declaration.
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