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DR Congo workers for Feronia made impotent by pesticides - HRW

25 November 2019
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Workers exposed to pesticides at a UK-funded company in the Democratic Republic of Congo have experienced becoming impotent, a rights group has said.

Feronia, which dominates DR Congo's palm-oil sector, had actually stopped working to give employees appropriate protective equipment, Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated.

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

It stated Feronia had invested greatly in protective equipment and all employees were required to wear it.
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Feronia, a Canadian-based firm, said it was committed to running to global standards.

The company added that it had actually spent $360,000 (₤ 280,000) on personal protective equipment in the last three years, which employees had been trained to utilize, and it had carried out a policy needing the equipment to be used 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 an important role promoting advancement, but they are undermining their mission by failing to ensure the company they fund respects the rights of its workers and neighborhoods on the plantations," HRW scientist Luciana Téllez-Chávez said.

What is HRW's proof?
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In a report entitled A Poisonous Mix of Abuses on Palm Plantations, external, HRW said it had interviewed more than 40 workers and two-thirds of them "informed us that they had actually become impotent given that they started the job".
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Impotence - along with 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 clinical literature", HRW stated.

"Many [also] suffered from skin irritation, irritation, blisters, eye problems, or blurred vision - all signs that follow what clinical texts and the products' labels describe as health effects of exposure to these pesticides," the rights group added.

Ms Téllez-Chávez said employees who had actually been spoken with had permeable cotton overalls - not the waterproof overalls.

"If pesticides inadvertently spilled, the harmful liquid would likely touch their skin," she included.
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What else does HRW say?

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

The effluents formed a "foul-smelling stream", and ultimately streamed into a natural pond where ladies and children bathe and clean cooking utensils.

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

If unattended and neglected, effluent-dumping might eventually likewise trigger fish to suffocate and die, or cause large developments of algae that might negatively affect the health of individuals who came into contact with contaminated water or taken in tainted fish, HRW added.

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

HRW said the advancement banks ought to make sure the organizations they buy pay living incomes to their employees.

What is the UK development bank's response?
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In a statement, CDC said: "Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) is an organic mix of natural waste oils and fats and has been discharged into rivers considering 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 - money that the company has actually chosen instead to invest on housing, clean water provision, healthcare and educational centers for workers, their families and other members of the regional communities.

"It is the objective of the company to build treatment plants for POME, however is unfortunately not in a financial position to do so currently as it continues to make heavy losses.

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

What does Feronia state?

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

Employees were now paid significantly more than the minimum wage for agriculture in DR Congo and the typical worker earned $3.30 each day - higher than what a regional teacher would make, it said.

It likewise verified that it had actually invested substantially in access to safe drinking water.
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"Feronia runs on a social required with local communities. Without their assistance we would not have the ability to work. We recognise that there is still a lot to be done and are devoted to running to international standards. We will continue to work relentlessly to achieve these objectives," the business included in a statement.

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