Airlines, ground handlers bid for 2019 Christian pilgrimage exercise

AS the 2019 Christian pilgrimage exercise is about to kick off, several Air carriers, ground handlers have commenced biding for the exercise.

The 2019 Christian pilgrimage exercise will commence this Easter, where pilgrims will be airlifted to the Christian holy sites in Israel and Rome and Greece.

During the bidding exercise, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC), Rev Tor Uja, said the commission remains committed to ensure that Pilgrims get quality and efficient services while on pilgrimage in the holy land.

He said the bid opening is the commission’s efforts to show compliance to the public procurement act and secondly, to prove that Nigeria is growing in methods, organisation and in the transparency index in procuring services.

ALSO READ: Why abscondment of pilgrims is possible —NCPC boss

According to him, “many of the things we have introduced have sharpened our operations and even an example to older establishments it has made our pilgrimage easier, smoother and the processes more predictable. It has also enhanced our service delivery.”

Uja assured the bidders that NCPC would conform to International best practices and would provide the necessary environment for fairness, equity, transparency and justice. He added that the commission would be fair to those who are qualified without any form of the lobby.

His words: “We are pursuing the 2019 services for air carries and ground handlers for the pilgrimage this year and we want everybody to have a level playing ground, no preferences, no sacred cows, no choices everybody is expected to obey the rules and he has no problem.”

“We believe that Nigeria is on the right track of getting things done properly and having an organised process of doing everything especially, procurement and arrangements for all the things we do.”

“It is a demonstration of fairness and character and we want anybody who is qualified to fit into the project and anybody who goes successfully through the process should also show fairness by services expected for the comfort of Nigerians who will be embarking on the 2019 Pilgrimage.

“We dare to say that anyone who applied, and is shortchanged should publicly complain because we are resolved to make fairness doctrine to be our live styles, to be our index and to be the yardstick by which we get things done.”

The NCPC boss disclosed that the commission in 2018 flew a total of 9,800 pilgrims, adding that it recorded a low rate of abscondment.