Apartments, hotels prepare to face millennium bug

JAKARTA (JP): Apartment residents and hotel guests in the capital have been warned to reserve an adequate supply of water, keep emergency lighting on hand and to avoid using elevators at midnight on New Year's Eve.

Ignoring the warnings could make you susceptible to the Y2K bug.

Such warnings were noted in leaflets distributed by many apartment managers at their respective premises. Some hoteliers, however, will distribute the warnings a few days before New Year's Eve.

Warnings to temporarily stop using computers have also been circulated among Jakartans.

At many apartments, managers have strongly alerted tenants not to use elevators during New Year's Eve.

Similar warnings can be found on announcement boards and walls of many apartments, such as Wisma Gading Permai in East Jakarta, Mitra Bahari and Pesona Bahari apartments in North Jakarta, Atap Merah Condominiums in Central Jakarta and Brawijaya Apartments in South Jakarta.

A pamphlet on the walls of Wisma Gading Permai reads: "Don't use the elevator 10 minutes before and after the year changes. Prepare emergency lighting and reserve enough water."

Martin Sutedja, a tenant, said the leaflets were posted about one month ago.

Head of the apartment's engineers, Budihardjo Sutardjo, insisted that the warnings did not reflect that the building's computer system was not yet Y2K compliant.

The warnings, he explained, were made because the service provided to the tenants also relied on outside services which might not be free from the double digit millennial problem.

"We, for example, can do nothing if the water supply from PDAM Jaya (the city water management company), or electricity from PLN state electricity company is suddenly disrupted.

"So what we can do now is urge tenants to get ready for any unfavorable circumstances," Budihardjo said.

In regard to elevators, he explained his company had prepared all of the apartment's elevators for the changing of the year.

"But we still need to be thoroughly alert as something might happen during that time. That's why we made the 10-minute limit before and after the new year," he said.

Hotels

Executives at Horison Hotel in North Jakarta, Hilton Hotel and Sheraton Media Hotel in Central Jakarta said their companies were ready for the millennium bug and would only caution their guests later.

Nur'aini B. Prapdanu, the public relations manager of Horison Hotel, said the hotel would distribute a leaflet on technical tips to help guests should certain problems, such as a loss of telephone service, arise at that time.

"Usually, guests want to call and say Happy New Year to people. Therefore, we'll prepare direct lines as a backup to serve them," she said.

Sheraton Media public relations manager Fifi Patricia said the hotel also made similar preparations.

She added that computer devices at the hotel would conclude its final test on Y2K compliance on Tuesday.

"Our computer devices were checked months ago. We're ready to do things manually should anything bad happen," she added.

At other companies and on the street, people also received free information on "what not to do" during the last seconds of the century.

Agus Gunawan, an employee of Guna Sumber Sejahtera electrical company in Central Jakarta, said his management circulated similar leaflets to staff and friends.

In the handouts, people were warned to avoid, among other things, using their credit cards or automatic telling machines (ATMs), printing out bank account balances and flying on airplanes.

He also suggested that people should do some minor preparation beforehand, such as making sure their vehicle's tank was full, mobile phones were fully charged, freezers and cupboards in the kitchen were stocked with an adequate supply of food and to ensure their last receipts were on hand. (ind)