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DR Congo workers 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 suffered becoming impotent, a rights group has said.

Feronia, which controls DR Congo's palm-oil sector, had actually failed to offer employees appropriate protective equipment, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

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

It said Feronia had invested heavily in protective equipment and all employees were required to use it.

Feronia, a Canadian-based company, stated it was committed to operating to global standards.

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

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Feronia and its regional subsidiary, Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), employ countless workers at palm oil plantations in DR Congo.
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PHC has received countless dollars from the development banks of Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

"These banks can play an essential function promoting development, but they are sabotaging their objective by stopping working to ensure the company they fund respects the rights of its workers and communities on the plantations," HRW researcher Luciana Téllez-Chávez said.
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What is HRW's proof?

In a report entitled A Poisonous Mix of Abuses on Congo's Oil Palm Plantations, external, HRW said it had interviewed more than 40 employees and two-thirds of them "informed us that they had become impotent because they began the task".
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Impotence - in addition to shortness of breath, headaches, and weight loss that the employees complained about - were illness "consistent with direct exposure to pesticides in general, as explained in scientific literature", HRW stated.

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

Ms Téllez-Chávez stated employees who had actually been talked to had permeable cotton overalls - not the water resistant overalls.

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

What else does HRW state?

At the Yaligimba plantation, the business dumped the waste from its palm oil mill beside homes.
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The effluents formed a "foul-smelling stream", and ultimately flowed into a natural pond where ladies and kids bathe and clean cooking utensils.
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"Residents of a village of numerous hundred individuals downstream informed us the river was their only source of drinking water," Ms Téllez-Chávez said.

If unattended and untreated, effluent-dumping could ultimately likewise cause fish to suffocate and pass away, or trigger large growths of algae that could negatively affect the health of individuals who came into contact with contaminated water or consumed tainted fish, HRW added.

The rights group likewise implicated Feronia of paying "severe poverty" incomes, saying ladies were the lowest-paid, with some earning just $7.30 a month gathering fruit.

HRW stated the advancement banks should guarantee business they invest in pay living wages to their workers.

What is the UK development bank's action?

In a statement, CDC stated: "Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) is a natural mix of natural waste oils and fats and has been discharged 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 financial investment - money that the company has picked rather to invest in housing, tidy water provision, health care and instructional facilities for employees, their households and other members of the local communities.

"It is the objective of the company to construct treatment plants for POME, but is regrettably not in a monetary position to do so currently as it continues to make heavy losses.
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"In addition, the company has actually refurbished or dug 72 brand-new boreholes for the arrangement of clean water in the last six years."
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What does Feronia state?

The company said working conditions had actually enhanced considerably because the participation of the European banks in 2013.

Employees were now paid considerably more than the base pay for agriculture in DR Congo and the average worker earned $3.30 per day - greater than what a regional instructor would earn, it stated.

It likewise verified that it had actually invested considerably in access to safe drinking water.
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"Feronia operates on a social required with local communities. Without their assistance we would not have the ability to operate. We acknowledge that there is still a lot to be done and are committed to operating to global standards. We will continue to work relentlessly to achieve these goals," the company included a statement.

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