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DR Congo employees for Feronia made impotent by pesticides - HRW
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25 November 2019

Workers exposed to pesticides at a UK-funded firm in the Democratic Republic of Congo have complained of becoming impotent, a rights group has stated.

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

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

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

Feronia, a Canadian-based company, stated it was devoted to running to global requirements.

The company added that it had spent $360,000 (₤ 280,000) on personal protective devices in the last 3 years, which employees had been trained to utilize, and it had actually carried out a policy requiring 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.

PHC has actually received 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 advancement, but they are sabotaging their objective by failing to guarantee the business they finance appreciates the rights of its workers and communities on the plantations," HRW researcher Luciana Téllez-Chávez stated.

What is HRW's evidence?

In a report entitled A Poisonous 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 since they started the task".

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

"Many [also] suffered from skin inflammation, itching, blisters, eye problems, or blurred vision - all symptoms that are constant with what scientific texts and the items' labels refer to as health consequences of exposure to these pesticides," the rights group added.

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

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

What else does HRW say?
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At the Yaligimba plantation, the company discarded the waste from its palm oil mill beside employees' homes.

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

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

If unattended and without treatment, effluent-dumping could ultimately likewise trigger fish to and pass away, or cause big developments of algae that might negatively impact the health of individuals who came into contact with polluted water or consumed tainted fish, HRW included.

The rights group also implicated Feronia of paying "extreme poverty" incomes, stating females were the lowest-paid, with some earning as little as $7.30 a month gathering fruit.

HRW stated the development banks must guarantee the organizations they purchase pay living salaries to their workers.

What is the UK development bank's reaction?

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 since the plantation entered into remaining in 1911 and does not threaten human health.
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"A treatment plant for POME represents a multimillion dollar investment - money that the business has picked instead to invest in real estate, tidy water provision, health care and instructional facilities for employees, their families and other members of the local communities.

"It is the goal of the business to build treatment plants for POME, but is unfortunately not in a financial position to do so presently as it continues to make heavy losses.

"In addition, the business has reconditioned or dug 72 new boreholes for the arrangement of tidy water in the last 6 years."

What does Feronia say?

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

Employees were now paid considerably more than the base pay for farming in DR Congo and the typical employee made $3.30 each day - higher than what a local teacher would earn, it said.
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It also confirmed that it had actually invested significantly in access to safe drinking water.

"Feronia runs on a social mandate with regional neighborhoods. Without their assistance we would not have the ability to operate. We identify that there is still a lot to be done and are committed to running to global requirements. We will continue to work relentlessly to attain these goals," the company included a statement.

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