DR Congo workers for Feronia made impotent by pesticides - HRW
25 November 2019
Workers exposed to pesticides at a UK-funded company in the Democratic Republic of Congo have suffered ending up being impotent, a rights group has stated.
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Feronia, which dominates DR Congo's palm-oil sector, had stopped working to provide employees adequate protective devices, Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated.
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The UK government's advancement bank, CDC, owns 38% of Feronia in DR Congo.
It said Feronia had actually invested heavily in protective equipment and all employees were needed to wear it.
Feronia, a Canadian-based company, said it was dedicated to operating to global standards.
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The firm added that it had actually spent $360,000 (₤ 280,000) on personal protective devices in the last 3 years, which workers had been trained to utilize, and it had actually executed a policy requiring the devices to be worn in the work environment.
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Feronia and its local subsidiary, Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), utilize countless workers at palm oil plantations in DR Congo.
PHC has received millions of dollars from the development banks of Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.
"These banks can play a crucial role promoting development, however they are undermining their mission by stopping working to guarantee the company they fund respects the rights of its workers and neighborhoods on the plantations," HRW researcher 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 actually interviewed more than 40 workers and two-thirds of them "informed us that they had actually become impotent given that they started the task".
Impotence - in addition to shortness of breath, headaches, and weight-loss that the employees grumbled about - were illness "constant with exposure to pesticides in general, as described in clinical literature", HRW stated.
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"Many [likewise] experienced skin irritation, itching, blisters, eye problems, or blurred vision - all signs that are constant with what clinical texts and the products' labels describe as health consequences of exposure to these pesticides," the rights group added.
Ms Téllez-Chávez stated employees who had been interviewed had permeable cotton overalls - not the water resistant overalls.
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"If pesticides inadvertently spilled, the harmful liquid would likely touch their skin," she included.
What else does HRW state?
At the Yaligimba plantation, the company disposed the waste from its mill beside workers' homes.
The effluents formed a "foul-smelling stream", and ultimately flowed into a natural pond where women and kids shower and wash cooking utensils.
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"Residents of a village of several hundred individuals downstream informed us the river was their only source of drinking water," Ms Téllez-Chávez stated.
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If unattended and unattended, effluent-dumping might eventually also cause fish to suffocate and die, or cause large growths of algae that could negatively affect the health of people who came into contact with polluted water or consumed tainted fish, HRW included.
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The rights group likewise implicated Feronia of paying "severe poverty" salaries, stating females were the lowest-paid, with some earning as little as $7.30 a month gathering fruit.
HRW stated the advancement banks need to ensure the services they buy pay living incomes to their workers.
What is the UK advancement bank's reaction?
In a declaration, CDC said: "Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) is an organic mix of natural waste oils and fats and has actually been discharged into rivers given that the plantation entered into being in 1911 and does not threaten human health.
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"A treatment plant for POME represents a multimillion dollar financial investment - cash that the company has picked instead to invest in housing, clean water provision, healthcare and educational facilities for workers, their families and other members of the local neighborhoods.
"It is the objective of the company to construct treatment plants for POME, but is regrettably not in a financial position to do so currently as it continues to make heavy losses.
"In addition, the company has actually reconditioned or dug 72 new boreholes for the provision of clean water in the last six years."
What does Feronia say?
The business said working conditions had enhanced considerably 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 employee earned $3.30 per day - greater than what a local instructor would earn, it stated.
It likewise validated that it had invested considerably in access to safe drinking water.
"Feronia operates on a social mandate with local neighborhoods. Without their support we would not have the ability to function. We recognise that there is still a terrific offer to be done and are devoted to running to global requirements. We will continue to work tirelessly to accomplish these goals," the business included in a declaration.
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DR Congo Workers for Feronia made Impotent By Pesticides - HRW
eqbrena783289 edited this page 2025-01-18 06:19:15 +08:00