BY SAMIE WAIKORI
AUKI
ALARM is being raised on the increasing influx of foreigners into the country who lack any means of language communication with locals.
A villager from Waisisi in West Are Are said at the moment the issue is experienced in certain parts of Malaita province where businesses like logging are operating in.
The person who wished anonymity due to closeness to the licensees, said the logging operation at Wasisi continue to face the issue.
He said over time Waisisi is filled with foreigners who speak neither English nor a little Pidgin.
The person said this is a real problem and it faced with lot of issues working with locals or even expats.
He said recently a local (excavator crew) nearly lost his life due to poor communication from his operator (Asian) when doing log skidding or pulling off logs to log yard ready for hauling.
The person said the issue was that the local’s operator can’t speak English or even pidgin that gave the local hard time to communicate with him.
He said there were other situations can also count where they’re very danger to claim life especially with the operation of logging.
The person said most of the jobs under logging operations were perilous and one thing can keep workers safe is proper communication with each other.
He said this issue continue to raise eyebrows for people live in places logging is operating and it will become worse if responsible authorities fail to do something about it.
The person stressed that sometimes people faced with the issues, but they silent about it because they knew nothing about it.
He added that the issues is not only common for logging as it also experienced with Asian people who own shops in Auki and everywhere in the country.
Adding that there is also a breakdown on communication where it sometimes impacted on the customer service.
The person said this is a real issue and Immigration must seriously monitor the issue to ensure people coming into the country under business purposes to be good in communication.
