Government still way behind in Y2K preparations

JAKARTA (JP): Most computer systems in government agencies and enterprises were yet to be updated as of July in preparation for the millennium bug, with only four months remaining until it is set to strike, a research institute found.

The National Institute of Administration (LAN) said on Thursday that 72 percent of computer systems in different state institutions remained unprepared for the expected changes, commonly known as Y2K.

But the head of LAN's Y2K team, Jafar Basri, said that major agencies like national air carrier Garuda Indonesia, state-owned electricity company PT PLN, state oil and gas company Pertamina, Bank Indonesia, state-owned telecommunications company PT Telkom and airport management firm PT Angkasa Pura were expected to be fully prepared in September.

The World Bank-funded survey painted a dimmer picture for health services, public administration and some transportation sectors.

The survey covered 90 percent of all organization units in central and provincial administrations. It found that 72 percent of 352 critical systems were not Y2K-compliant.

Jafar blamed the government's negligence in anticipating the millennium bug to its preoccupation with politics.

In the health sector, most computer systems would fail if they continued in their present state. The situation could lead to hospital machinery becoming inoperable and garbled date on the condition of patients.

In public services, a breakdown in the system would cause inefficiency with work being switched to manual operations, he said. "The time required to get an ID card might be extended to two weeks instead of the two days at present."

Jonathan Parapak, an aide to the minister of communications, said all government enterprises should be ready for the millennium bug by September, with contingency plans to anticipate problems and train human resources to deal with the situations.

K.C. Toh, a consultant from PT Puncak Mas Utama which was hired by LAN for the project, said the standard Y2K implementation project required at least two years to complete.

It was impossible to implement it in the remaining time of four months, Toh said.

Some systems would fail at the dawning of the new millennium, and contingency plans would be necessary, he added.

One method was to set dates on the computer to 1972, which would read with the same dates and days as the year 2000, he said.

The year would then be declared as temporary computer date and this would allow the computer to operate normally, provided some modifications were made to the application software.

Another solution was to resort to manual operations, he said, noting it would slow the system but avoid the loss of data.

Toh recommended the establishment of a high commissioner who would have full authority to regulate the Y2K problem not later than Nov. 1.

Some institutions could focus on prioritizing the compliance of particular systems and dealing with others later on.

He stressed the need to instill public confidence concerning the government's readiness in order to avoid panic buying and hoarding of basic commodities. (02)