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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 complained of ending up being impotent, a rights group has stated.

Feronia, which controls DR Congo's palm-oil sector, had stopped working to provide workers adequate protective devices, Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated.

The UK government's advancement bank, CDC, owns 38% of Feronia in DR Congo.
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It stated Feronia had invested greatly in protective devices and all workers were needed to use it.

Feronia, a Canadian-based company, stated it was dedicated to running to worldwide standards.

The company added that it had spent $360,000 (₤ 280,000) on personal protective equipment in the last 3 years, which employees had been trained to use, and it had actually executed a policy requiring the equipment to be worn in the workplace.
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Feronia and its local subsidiary, Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), employ countless employees at palm oil plantations in DR Congo.

PHC has actually received millions of dollars from the advancement banks of Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.
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"These banks can play an important function promoting advancement, but they are sabotaging their mission by failing to guarantee the business they finance appreciates the rights of its workers and communities on the plantations," HRW scientist Luciana Téllez-Chávez said.

What is HRW's evidence?

In a report entitled A Hazardous Mix of Abuses on Congo's Oil Palm Plantations, external, HRW said it had talked to more than 40 workers and two-thirds of them "told us that they had actually ended up being impotent because they began the job".

Impotence - along with shortness of breath, headaches, and weight-loss that the about - were health problems "constant with exposure to pesticides in general, as explained in clinical literature", HRW said.
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"Many [likewise] suffered from skin irritation, itchiness, blisters, eye issues, or blurred vision - all symptoms that follow what scientific texts and the items' labels explain as health consequences of exposure to these pesticides," the rights group included.
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Ms Téllez-Chávez stated workers who had been talked to had permeable cotton overalls - not the water resistant overalls.

"If pesticides accidentally spilled, the hazardous 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.
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The effluents formed a "foul-smelling stream", and ultimately flowed into a natural pond where women and children bathe and wash cooking utensils.

"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 unattended and untreated, effluent-dumping could eventually also cause fish to suffocate and pass away, or cause big growths of algae that might adversely impact the health of people who entered contact with polluted water or taken in tainted fish, HRW included.
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The rights group likewise implicated Feronia of paying "extreme hardship" incomes, saying women were the lowest-paid, with some earning just $7.30 a month gathering fruit.
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HRW said the advancement banks ought to make sure business they invest in pay living incomes to their workers.

What is the UK development bank's action?

In a statement, CDC stated: "Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) is an organic mix of natural waste oils and fats and has actually been released into rivers given that the plantation entered 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 rather to invest on real estate, clean water arrangement, health care and academic facilities for workers, their households and other members of the local neighborhoods.
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"It is the aim of the business to build treatment plants for POME, however is regrettably not in a financial position to do so currently as it continues to make heavy losses.

"In addition, the business has reconditioned or dug 72 new boreholes for the arrangement of clean water in the last six years."
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What does Feronia say?

The business stated working conditions had improved significantly considering that the involvement of the European banks in 2013.

Employees were now paid significantly more than the base pay for agriculture in DR Congo and the average worker made $3.30 daily - higher than what a local teacher would make, it stated.
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It also confirmed that it had actually invested substantially in access to safe drinking water.

"Feronia runs on a social mandate with regional communities. Without their support we would not have the ability to work. We acknowledge that there is still a lot to be done and are committed to running to worldwide requirements. We will continue to work tirelessly to accomplish these objectives," the business added in a statement.

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