A youth from Tawaraha in Makira is calling on community leaders and elders to address the issue of communication in their community.
Speaking to Solomon Times Online, Davis Rabubaru says as a student he finds it hard to access information he needs for his studies.
Rabubaru, a student at the USP says his community lacks network connectivity. He says most times, the people in his village have to walk five kilometers inland to have good connectivity.
"I believe dissemination of information through communication in our remote places are very important”.
Rabubaru says that it would be a lot cheaper for him if could do his studies in his home village. He says the course is designed for flexible learning and most materials are available online.
"I wish to go back home and carry out my studies online, but I cannot do that because in my community there is no network coverage. This has made me stay back in Honiara, despite the threat of COVID-19”, Rabubaru says.
He says at this time of COVID-19 pandemic, it is also important people have communication access.
Rabubaru says if they wish to make a phone call from relatives in Honiara and elsewhere, they will have no choice but to walk inland and up the hills to get good connectivity.
He says even as a student in Honiara, he finds it hard to get in touch with his parents in the village.
He says it is his wish that leaders and elders in his community work in collaboration with the telecommunication companies so that people like him can be able to access information as and when needed.
Meanwhile, mobile penetration in 2018 was said to be 80 percent. This is an increase of 20 percent from 2010.
Mobile coverage was 95 percent in 2019, increasing from 20 percent in 2010.