Skyz Metro cutting it fine

Bruce Ndlovu
After almost a year of delays that has seen anticipating Bulawayo listeners despair if ever they would actually get their first radio station on the airwaves, Skyz Metro has set a September D Day.

This will be a month before their licence issued by the Broadcasting Authority Zimbabwe (BAZ) expires.

Out of the eight radio stations that were awarded licenses last year, only YA FM and Diamond FM have gone live with Skyz Metro FM (Bulawayo), Breeze FM (Victoria Falls), Hevoi FM (Masvingo), Faya FM (Gweru), KE100.4FM, (Harare) and Nyaminyami FM (Kariba) still yet to start broadcasting.

Since March last year, the Bulawayo station has given various targets it has failed to meet, with information about the station reduced to a trickle this year as stationa��s hierarchy staying mum since the beginning of the year.

Last week however, the stationa��s CEO Qhubani Moyo broke the silence as he shared pictures of a newly renovated Amakhosi while also finally giving a date for the stationa��s launch.

a�?Sights from Skyz Metro FM studios in preparation for the launch in September 2016.?#?esabantu?a�? he posted along with the first batch of pictures on his Facebook page.

Moyo also took the opportunity to educate his followers on the renovations that had been taking place at Amakhosi over the past year.

a�?Not just Amakhosi repainted lots of work done inside to build the live and production studio at the side where there was the bar and the restaurant. The area which was the kitchen has been reconstructed to be a control room. The rest of the area was not tiled but now it is .Some of the equipment has arrived and we are doing signal testing so that when we go on air we do it right,a�? he posted.

Moyo added that although much had changed in the interior, the station was still keen to preserve some of the elements that had made Amakhosi the citya��s ceremonial home of the arts.

a�?From outside except for changes in the old windows frames and replacement with aluminum fittings, there has been little change in the looks, Cont Mhlanga was very particular that we should improve looks but preserve the cultural looks of the area,a�? he posted.