Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade says the state government will soon commence the operation of air and shipping lines as part of its industrialisation drive.

Ayade was optimistic that the business plan for the procurement of at least two aircraft, an oil tanker vessel and a fishing trawler would go a long way in meeting the investment needs of the state.

He stated this after observing a series of presentations for consideration as transaction advisors by some companies for the procurement of the aircraft and vessels for the proposed Cally Air and Shipping Lines respectively.

“We are going to have a referendum on this project; we are going to throw it back to the people of Cross River to make the final decision,” he assured.

Ayade, who was pleased with the viability of the projects as expressed by the companies in their presentations, adopted five out of the 10 companies for a successful technical evaluation.

He asked them to present their bidding for the project in two weeks’ time, saying: “The intention of running an airline was not only focused on making money, but the underlining philosophy is to drive traffic to Calabar and to boost the economy and tourism potentials of the state.”

The successful companies are expected to present their financial bids for the proper procurement exercise on August 15.

The companies that participated in the presentation for Cally Air are Catalyst Gold Innovations, Glory Airlines, Travel Essentials, Manyata Engineering, Dana Airlines and Tropic Aviation.

Others who made presentations for the procurement of vessels and fishing trawlers are Lumberg Services Limited, Strickland Services, Travel Essentials and Obyke System Consults. (Channels TV)

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