Government's long awaited TV channel has finally been given a launch date – at the end of the month – in a ceremony to be attended by Premier Ewart Brown.

Last year, Government allotted $840,000 for the project and in this year's Budget set aside $690,000 and five full-time staff despite heavy criticism from the Opposition which questioned the rationale behind the scheme.

In the past, Government hinted that Bermudian history and other public educational initiatives would be included in the station's programming lineup. The station's launch date has been delayed once already.

However, invitations from the Department of Information and Communication (DCI) were sent out yesterday, inviting selected individuals to attend the opening ceremony on September 30, at the Berkeley Institute from 6.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m.

CITV, as the channel has been named, will receive a "blessing" from the Rev. Veronica Outerbridge, the invitation states, as well as remarks from Environment, Telecommunications and E-Commerce Minister Neletha Butterfield.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will proceed, followed by a video presentation entitled, "My Bermuda," to kick things off.

Recently, Opposition spokesperson for Telecommunications, Senator E.T. (Bob) Richards said such a station was "unheard of" and questioned its purpose since the Island already has a privately-run media.

"To spend the taxpayers money on a Government TV station," Sen. Richards said, "in a first-world country as Bermuda, is just unheard of. Government has proposed that the station will be something like the BBC in the UK, which is government owned. But the BBC has total editorial independence from the Government there."

In the House of Assembly former Premier Scott described the project this way: "The Government feels it prudent and necessary to speak on a regular basis directly to the people of this country, in an unmediated and unedited fashion.''

Last night at press time, DCI failed to respond to a list of questions submitted by this paper on the content of the station, staffing levels and its mission statement.