STORY:
US Confident of Y2K Preps

Officials warn public to increase preparations incase of computer related problems

With 100 days to the Year 2000, US officials are claiming confidence but also urging the public to stepped-up its preparation as the computer Y2K bug crawls ever closer.

"The true extent of the Y2K failures will match neither the most optimistic nor the most apocalyptic predictions," according to a report released by the Senate's Special Committee on Y2K. The report predicted that the feared computer glitches will likely "cause more inconvenience than tragedy."

"The US is generally in good shape," Senator Robert Bennett, chairman of the committee, reportedly told a press conference. "Most of the major systems in our country will work ... The Y2K will not be spread across the nation." "Problems will occur on the street, but will not be crippling," he added.

According to the report, those "problems" could hit the health care, oil, education, agriculture and construction industries.

Nearly all critical communications and information systems of the Federal government have been fixed to function correctly through the turn of the century, according to a report released earlier this month by the House Subcommittee on Information and Technology.

Only a few agencies were slightly behind schedule, the report said, noting that the Commerce, Energy and Transportation Departments were 99 percent ready; the Department of Health and Human Services was about 98 percent ready; and the Justice, Treasury and Defense Departments respectively were at 97 percent, 94 percent and 89 percent readiness.

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Director Jane Garvey maintains that air traffic will run smoothly. Garvey has sought to reassure the public by promising she herself will be traveling by plane on the fateful New Year's midnight.

Officials say the banking and financial sectors are by far the best prepared, with 99.7 percent of the financial institutions supervised by federal authorities reportedly well prepared to face the big bad bug.

Source: Agence France Presse

DATE: 9/22/99

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