1 DR Congo Workers for Feronia made Impotent By Pesticides - HRW
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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 firm in the Democratic Republic of Congo have suffered becoming impotent, a rights group has actually said.

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

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

It stated Feronia had invested greatly in protective devices and all workers were required to use it.

Feronia, a Canadian-based company, said it was devoted to running to worldwide standards.

The firm included that it had spent $360,000 (₤ 280,000) on individual protective devices in the last 3 years, which workers had actually been trained to use, and it had carried out 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 countless employees at palm oil plantations in DR Congo.
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PHC has actually gotten countless 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 development, however they are undermining their mission by failing to guarantee the company they fund respects the rights of its employees and communities on the plantations," HRW scientist Luciana Téllez-Chávez stated.

What is HRW's evidence?

In a report entitled A Hazardous Mix of Abuses on Congo's Oil Palm Plantations, external, HRW stated it had spoken with more than 40 employees and two-thirds of them "informed us that they had become impotent considering that they began the job".

Impotence - along with shortness of breath, headaches, and weight-loss that the employees complained about - were illness "consistent with direct exposure to pesticides in general, as described in clinical literature", HRW said.
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"Many [likewise] experienced skin inflammation, irritation, blisters, eye issues, or blurred vision - all symptoms that follow what scientific texts and the items' labels refer to as health consequences of direct 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 inadvertently spilled, the poisonous 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 next to employees' homes.

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

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

If unchecked and without treatment, effluent-dumping might eventually likewise cause fish to suffocate and die, or cause large growths of algae that could negatively impact the health of individuals who entered contact with contaminated water or taken in tainted fish, HRW added.

The rights group likewise accused Feronia of paying "severe hardship" incomes, stating women were the lowest-paid, with some earning as little as $7.30 a month event fruit.

HRW stated the development banks ought to make sure business they buy pay living earnings to their employees.

What is the UK development bank's response?
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In a statement, CDC stated: "Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) is a natural mix of natural waste oils and fats and has been released into rivers considering that the plantation came into remaining in 1911 and does not threaten human health.
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"A treatment plant for POME represents a multimillion dollar financial investment - money that the business has chosen instead to spend on housing, clean water arrangement, health care and educational facilities for staff members, their families and other members of the regional neighborhoods.

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

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

What does Feronia say?

The company said working conditions had actually improved considerably since the involvement of the European banks in 2013.

Employees were now paid considerably more than the minimum wage for farming in DR Congo and the average worker earned $3.30 per day - higher than what a regional teacher would make, it said.

It likewise confirmed that it had actually invested considerably in access to safe drinking water.
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"Feronia operates on a social mandate with regional communities. Without their support we would not be able to function. We identify that there is still a lot to be done and are devoted to running to international requirements. We will continue to work relentlessly to accomplish these goals," the business included a declaration.

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