In conjunction with 'No Pesticide Use Day', the government was today urged by workers' organisations not to buckle under industry pressures, but to maintain its ban on the herbicide paraquat.

The day commemorates the world's worst chemical disaster in 1984. That day in Bhopal, India, a pesticide factory exploded and released a toxic gas that was blamed for the death of 20,000 people and injuries to more than 500,000.

Labour rights organisation Tenaganita director Irene Fernandez said in a statement that the government should "remain strong in its decision," despite pressures from Swiss manufacturer Syngenta and the Malaysian oil palm industry to reverse the ban.

"We are aware that Syngenta is using all forms of influence, even threats to get the decision reversed," she alleged.

"We understand that the company has even employed a close relative of the Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as a consultant in order to influence and bring about a change in decision."

The "irresponsible behaviour" of pressuring the government to reverse the ban, as well as any further production of paraquat, must be stopped, Fernandez said.

The human rights activist also called on the government to assist farmers and the plantation sector to develop safer and more sustainable weed control methods.

Adverse health effects

Known by its trade name Gramoxone , paraquat has been found to have damaged and adversely affected the functioning of internal organs and central nervous system among farmers and plantation workers applying the herbicide.

Extensively used by those growing bananas, cocoa, coffee, cotton, oil palm, pineapple, rubber and sugar cane, it has also been reported to be linked to cases of skin cancer, reproductive problems and Parkinson's disease.

Fernandez claimed that, despite such findings, however, Syngenta has not let up its efforts to reverse the Pesticide Board's decision to ban and phase out the use of paraquat.

"Syngenta is now using farmers, especially from the Kepala Batas (Penang) area to protest against the ban," she said.

"The company instils fears of high cost in external input on the padi (through the use of alternatives). It also (warns against) crop failure if paraquat is banned."

She said the company must also be held responsible for the pesticide sprayers in the country who have suffered from various illnesses on account of their exposure to the chemical.

"While the company has accumulated millions of dollars as profit from the sale of paraquat with the highest sales (being) in Malaysia, the workers have withered in poor health and poverty," she added.

International organisations have also called on action against the manufacture and use of paraquat as a herbicide.

In a statement, the International Pesticide Action Network (PAN) said its partners in Malaysia, the Philippines, China, Bangladesh, South India, and Sri Lanka will undertake a range of activities to highlight the threats and problems resulting from paraquat use, exposure and poisoning.