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DR Congo Workers for Feronia made Impotent By Pesticides - HRW
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DR Congo workers 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 ending up being impotent, a rights group has actually said.

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

The UK government's advancement bank, CDC, owns 38% of Feronia in DR Congo.
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It said Feronia had actually invested heavily in protective equipment and all employees were needed to use it.

Feronia, a Canadian-based firm, said it was devoted to running to global standards.

The company added that it had actually spent $360,000 (₤ 280,000) on personal protective equipment in the last 3 years, which workers had been trained to use, and it had actually carried out a policy requiring the equipment to be used in the workplace.
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Feronia and its local subsidiary, Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), use thousands of workers at palm oil plantations in DR Congo.
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PHC has actually received millions of 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 mission by stopping working to make sure the company they fund appreciates the rights of its employees and neighborhoods on the plantations," HRW researcher Luciana Téllez-Chávez said.

What is HRW's proof?

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

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

"Many [likewise] suffered from skin irritation, itching, blisters, eye issues, or blurred vision - all symptoms that follow what clinical texts and the items' labels refer to as health effects of direct exposure to these pesticides," the rights group included.

Ms Téllez-Chávez said employees who had actually been spoken with had permeable cotton overalls - not the waterproof overalls.

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

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

The effluents formed a "foul-smelling stream", and ultimately flowed into a natural pond where females and kids shower and clean cooking utensils.

"Residents of a village of several hundred individuals downstream told us the river was their only source of drinking water," Ms Téllez-Chávez stated.

If untreated and unattended, effluent-dumping could eventually also trigger fish to suffocate and die, or trigger big growths of algae that could negatively impact the health of individuals who entered contact with contaminated water or taken in tainted fish, HRW added.

The rights group likewise implicated Feronia of paying "extreme poverty" incomes, saying females were the lowest-paid, with some earning as little as $7.30 a month event fruit.
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HRW said the advancement banks must guarantee the organizations they purchase pay living salaries to their workers.

What is the UK development bank's action?

In a statement, CDC said: "Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) is an organic mix of natural waste oils and fats and has actually been released into rivers since 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 investment - money that the business has actually selected instead to invest in housing, tidy water provision, health care and academic facilities for workers, their households and other members of the regional neighborhoods.
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"It is the aim of the company to construct treatment plants for POME, but is sadly not in a monetary position to do so currently as it continues to make heavy losses.

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

What does Feronia say?

The business stated working conditions had actually enhanced substantially considering that the involvement of the European banks in 2013.

Employees were now paid substantially more than the base pay for farming in DR Congo and the average worker earned $3.30 per day - higher than what a regional teacher would make, it stated.
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It also validated that it had actually invested considerably in access to safe drinking water.
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"Feronia runs on a social mandate with local neighborhoods. Without their support we would not be able to operate. We recognise that there is still a lot to be done and are committed to to international standards. We will continue to work relentlessly to attain these objectives," the business included a statement.

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