Another push is being made for the establishment of a ferry system in the Caribbean.Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the ten-year-old registered company Azalea Ferries Limited Andre Petite says he is in the process of securing some US$300 million in financing to get a ferry network in place across the region.However, Petite, who said he is currently coming up against a number of road blocks in obtaining the requisite finance for the elaborate plan, told Barbados TODAY he was prepared to see his plan through to the end.The former Coast Guard employee said he has been planning his sea transportation strategy for the past 13 years.“Right now I am looking to get finance to start the whole operation, but my challenge is getting the finance to start. My business plan is ready and I am actually looking now to try and see where I am going to get the financing from. I am looking at project financing where I will get investors’ equity financing as well as debt financing to start this whole operation,” he said.Petite said so far, he has reached out to several financial institutions including commercial banks, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), but he was not pleased with the response he has been getting.
