Government still way behind in Y2K preparations<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Most computer systems in government agencies and
\nenterprises were yet to be updated as of July in preparation for
\nthe millennium bug, with only four months remaining until it is
\nset to strike, a research institute found.<\/p>\n
The National Institute of Administration (LAN) said on
\nThursday that 72 percent of computer systems in different state
\ninstitutions remained unprepared for the expected changes,
\ncommonly known as Y2K.<\/p>\n
But the head of LAN's Y2K team, Jafar Basri, said that major
\nagencies like national air carrier Garuda Indonesia, state-owned
\nelectricity company PT PLN, state oil and gas company Pertamina,
\nBank Indonesia, state-owned telecommunications company PT Telkom
\nand airport management firm PT Angkasa Pura were expected to be
\nfully prepared in September.<\/p>\n
The World Bank-funded survey painted a dimmer picture for
\nhealth services, public administration and some transportation
\nsectors.<\/p>\n
The survey covered 90 percent of all organization units in
\ncentral and provincial administrations. It found that 72 percent
\nof 352 critical systems were not Y2K-compliant.<\/p>\n
Jafar blamed the government's negligence in anticipating the
\nmillennium bug to its preoccupation with politics.<\/p>\n
In the health sector, most computer systems would fail if they
\ncontinued in their present state. The situation could lead to
\nhospital machinery becoming inoperable and garbled date on the
\ncondition of patients.<\/p>\n
In public services, a breakdown in the system would cause
\ninefficiency with work being switched to manual operations, he
\nsaid. "The time required to get an ID card might be extended to
\ntwo weeks instead of the two days at present."<\/p>\n
Jonathan Parapak, an aide to the minister of communications,
\nsaid all government enterprises should be ready for the
\nmillennium bug by September, with contingency plans to anticipate
\nproblems and train human resources to deal with the situations.<\/p>\n
K.C. Toh, a consultant from PT Puncak Mas Utama which was
\nhired by LAN for the project, said the standard Y2K
\nimplementation project required at least two years to complete.<\/p>\n
It was impossible to implement it in the remaining time of
\nfour months, Toh said.<\/p>\n
Some systems would fail at the dawning of the new millennium,
\nand contingency plans would be necessary, he added.<\/p>\n
One method was to set dates on the computer to 1972, which
\nwould read with the same dates and days as the year 2000, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The year would then be declared as temporary computer date and
\nthis would allow the computer to operate normally, provided some
\nmodifications were made to the application software.<\/p>\n
Another solution was to resort to manual operations, he said,
\nnoting it would slow the system but avoid the loss of data.<\/p>\n
Toh recommended the establishment of a high commissioner who
\nwould have full authority to regulate the Y2K problem not later
\nthan Nov. 1.<\/p>\n
Some institutions could focus on prioritizing the compliance
\nof particular systems and dealing with others later on.<\/p>\n
He stressed the need to instill public confidence concerning
\nthe government's readiness in order to avoid panic buying and
\nhoarding of basic commodities. (02)<\/p>",
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