Construction of a US$1 billion project dubbed Virgin City has kicked off in Calabar Municipality in Nigeria’s Cross River State, Governor Ben Ayade has announced.
The city which is located near Ayade industrial boulevard will consist of a building materials market, auto parts market, wood market, water world fairground, artificial lake, golf arena, clothing market, hotel, Residential area auxiliary, dance square, kindergarten, primary and secondary schools, supermarket as well as a hospital.
Speaking at the ground breaking ceremony of the project, Mr Ayade said that the decision to construct the Virgin City was informed by plans to build a deep seaport in the area.
“Construction work on the seaport starts by January 15, with 35, 000 workers at its peak, we need to provide accommodation and recreational facilities for them,” he said.
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The governor also added that the local community will benefited greatly through creation of jobs and CSR activities.
“Recruitment of labor, emphasis will be given to the host community. So the host community, you have a priority role to play. Also, we will ensure that if there are small short contracts to be given, again, this community will have priority because we want to ensure that you become stable because we don’t want to build an estate that the community itself will not afford to live in.”
The project is being spearheaded by Chinese firm Mark Sino Construction Company Limited.