Plateau injects N250m to revive Hill Station Hotel

The Plateau State Government says it has injected about N250 million to revive the over 70-year-old Hill Station Hotel which once hosted the Queen Elizabeth II.

The hotel, established in 1938, is owned by the governments of Plateau, Nasarawaand Benue states, as well as the New Nigeria Development Company (NNDC) and a company known as Leacon.

Chairman, Plateau Investment and Property Development Company (PIPC), Ezekiel Gomos, while briefing journalists on the achievements of the PIPC since it was revived about a year ago, said Plateau State recently became the highest shareholder, owning about 75 per cent of the hotel’s shares.

Gomos, who is also the chairman of the state’s economic team, said a chunk part of the 250 million invested in the hotel was used to clear staff debt, renovate the structures and upgrade the rooms, adding that; “for the first time in about six to seven years, the intercoms in the rooms are working. In the past, if you wanted to take water you had to walk down from your room. There were no TV’s in the rooms, they had boxed TVs.”

Daily Trust reports that retirees of the hotel had a few years back, through the National Industrial Court, obtained an order of execution on the strength of which a truck load of hotel property was evacuated for auctioning.

However, Gomos said the Plateau State Government had only about 15 to 20 per cent of the shares then and stressed that: “During the time of Governor Jonah Jang the state government bought additional shares and the deal was consummated during the present government, making Plateau State the highest shareholder.”