Capital ready to face the millennium bug
JAKARTA (JP): Deputy Governor for Development Affairs Budihardjo Sukmadi said on Monday the city administration was ready for the millennium bug.
"The city administration, especially public service sectors such as the traffic light system and city-owned Bank DKI, is Y2K compliant," Budihardjo said at City Hall.
It is feared the millennium, or Y2K bug will strike computer systems when the year turns over to 2000. Computers whose programs read dates with a two-digit system and have not been updated could read '00' as 1900 instead of 2000. The error could create problems ranging from power failures to billing errors.
Budihardjo said the city administration had checked all critical public services, including administration, banking and finance, communications, electricity, hospitals, oil and gas and transportation.
"All necessary preparations have been made to ensure that there aren't any problems in the public service sectors," he said.
He also said the city administration was not fully computerized. "It is like a blessing in disguise because the (Y2K) preparations are easier to implement."
Governor Sutiyoso asked city residents not to panic over feared computer failures. "City residents shouldn't be provoked by negative rumors concerning the event."
Last week, the deputy chairman of Indonesia's Y2K task force, J.B. Kristiadi, announced Indonesia was ready to face the millennium bug and had established alert posts across the nation.
Budihardjo said the city's alert post would be supervised by the head of the Jakarta Civil Defense Headquarters, Santosa Djaja Atmadja.
Most vital firms have also announced their readiness to face the Y2K bug, including state-owned power company PLN and publicly listed telecommunications company PT Telkom.
In a separate interview, a public relations officer at PLN's Jakarta-Tangerang distribution unit, Tito S.P., said his unit was 90 percent ready to face the millennium bug in November.
"We can't say we're 100 percent ready, because there are always unpredictable factors," Tito told The Jakarta Post.
"One of the critical points is the distribution control system, which is fully computerized," he said.
Tito said that another critical point was the billing system. "It includes the customer database and the latest billing data."
Tito said the Jakarta-Tangerang distribution unit served 2,543,175 customers with a total power of 13,676 gigawatts/hour.
Similar reassurances of Y2K compliance were heard from the city's tap water sector.
Barry Jensen, the director of PT Thames Pam Jaya (TPJ), one of city-owned water company PAM Jaya's two foreign partners, told the Post the water supply would not be affected by the millennium bug.
"We have prepared standby generators to pump out the water should there be any power failures," he said.
Barry said the computer problem would not pose any threats to the customer billing database. "We have made all necessary precautions to face the bug by producing back-up files."
Currently, TPJ serves more than 284,000 customers in the eastern part of the city, Barry said. (05)