dr-congo-workers-for-feronia-made-impotent-by-pesticides---hrw

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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 company in the Democratic Republic of Congo have suffered becoming impotent, a rights group has actually stated.

Feronia, which dominates DR Congo's palm-oil sector, had failed to provide employees sufficient protective equipment, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
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The UK federal government's development bank, CDC, owns 38% of Feronia in DR Congo.

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

Feronia, a Canadian-based firm, stated it was committed to operating to worldwide requirements.

The company added that it had actually spent $360,000 (₤ 280,000) on individual protective equipment in the last three years, which employees had actually been trained to utilize, and it had carried out a policy needing the devices to be used in the workplace.
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Feronia and its regional subsidiary, Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), use thousands of employees at palm oil plantations in DR Congo.
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PHC has gotten countless dollars from the development banks of Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

"These banks can play an essential function promoting development, however they are sabotaging their objective by failing to ensure the business they finance appreciates the rights of its workers 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 Palm Plantations, external, HRW said it had talked to more than 40 employees and two-thirds of them "told us that they had actually ended up being impotent given that they started the job".

Impotence - in addition to shortness of breath, headaches, and weight-loss that the employees grumbled about - were health issue "constant with exposure to pesticides in basic, as described in scientific literature", HRW said.

"Many [likewise] experienced skin inflammation, itchiness, blisters, eye issues, or blurred vision - all symptoms that are constant with what clinical texts and the products' labels describe as health consequences of direct exposure to these pesticides," the rights group added.
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Ms Téllez-Chávez said employees who had actually been interviewed had permeable cotton overalls - not the waterproof overalls.
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"If pesticides inadvertently spilled, the harmful liquid would likely touch their skin," she added.

What else does HRW state?

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

The effluents formed a "foul-smelling stream", and ultimately flowed into a natural pond where ladies and children bathe and clean cooking utensils.
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"Residents of a village of several hundred people downstream informed us the river was their only source of drinking water," Ms Téllez-Chávez said.

If untreated and neglected, effluent-dumping could eventually also cause fish to suffocate and die, or cause large developments of algae that might adversely impact the health of people who came into contact with contaminated water or taken in tainted fish, HRW included.

The rights group likewise implicated Feronia of paying "extreme poverty" earnings, stating ladies were the lowest-paid, with some earning as low as $7.30 a month gathering fruit.

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

What is the UK advancement bank's response?
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In a declaration, CDC said: "Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) is a natural mix of natural waste oils and fats and has been discharged into rivers considering that the plantation entered into being in 1911 and does not threaten human health.

"A treatment plant for POME represents a multimillion dollar investment - cash that the company has picked rather to invest on housing, tidy water arrangement, healthcare and educational centers for employees, their households and other members of the regional communities.
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"It is the goal of the company to construct treatment plants for POME, however is unfortunately not in a financial position to do so presently as it continues to make heavy losses.

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

What does Feronia say?

The business said working conditions had improved significantly because the participation of the European banks in 2013.

Employees were now paid substantially more than the minimum wage for farming in DR Congo and the average worker made $3.30 each day - greater than what a local teacher would make, it said.

It likewise validated that it had actually invested significantly in access to safe drinking water.

"Feronia operates on a social mandate with local communities. Without their assistance we would not have the ability to function. We identify that there is still a lot to be done and are devoted to running to worldwide requirements. We will continue to work tirelessly to achieve these goals," the business included a declaration.

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