DUHOK, Kurdistan Region - The lack of telecommunications services and internet signal in many of Batifa district's outlying villages in Duhok province, resulted in a series of problems which drove local residents to call on the government and relevant authorities to resolve the issue for them.
Shafiq Omar, a resident of Khizava village sometimes has to walk for more than a kilometer or climb on the roof of his house to get signal in order to make a phone call.
"Look, my house is the one with the highest elevation compared to others in our village. Yet, in order to be able to make a phone call, I have to get on top of the roof of my house,” Omer complained. "We have a very poor telecommunications signal. We can never receive phone calls or make phone calls inside our houses."
Though many people carry smartphones, they make little use of them. The lack of internet signal has proven particularly problematic for students looking for jobs and residents who want to follow the news or check their social media.
Omran Mohammed, a resident of Khizava village, said he had been offered public sector employment, but missed the job opportunity because he was always unreachable.
"I had been employed by the government, but due to the lack of telecommunications signals, I lost the job. I cannot receive phone calls. Any government institution that I visited to ask why I lost the job, they used to tell me 'We have called you many times, but you were unreachable,'" Mohammed said.
Each village has started to follow up on the issue separately in an attempt to solve it.
Tahseen Guli, chieftain of Khizava says the village had already been promised by a telecommunications company that an internet signal tower would be placed there around mid-January, following a census on the telecommunications infrastructure needs across the region of Barwari
"We have already been promised [the installation of the internet signal tower]. From now until mid-January a census will be conducted across the region of Barwari. Hopefully, towers will be placed in the whole of the region by then," said Guli.