Apartments, hotels prepare to face millennium bug

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)