Gulf arabs largely indifferent by Y2k scare (Dubai)

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http://www.akhbar.com/article/0,1690,Business-8887,00.html

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Gulf Arabs largely indifferent by Y2K scare

It is only in the banking centre of Bahrain and trading hub of Dubai that anything resembling real concern has emerged.

December 22, 1999, 11:55 AM

DUBAI (AFP) - After near total silence while the western world wrung its hands over a potential computer-bug-fuelled Armageddon, unfazed Gulf Arab states have in recent days given reassurances that they are Y2K-ready.

Most waited until the final approach of the millennium to tell their people that everything is just fine, but it is only in the banking centre of Bahrain and trading hub of Dubai that anything resembling real concern has emerged.

Public indifference

The public remains largely indifferent either way. The New Year coincides with the slow-down of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when the faithful fast from dawn to dusk, and people appear immune to New Year fever.

Determining the Gulf's real readiness for any Y2K-related problems is difficult. Information in this region is seen as a privilege not a right and the notion of accountability both in the public and private sectors is rare.

Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) appears to be one of the few prepared to tell the public what it is doing to meet emergencies.

Dubai's police force, one of seven across the UAE, has cancelled all leave and put its entire personnel on alert for December 31 and in the meantime has been carrying out drills to deal with possible air crashes.

A special Dubai committee overseeing Y2K preparations on Tuesday declared all vital services, including banking, telephones, public services and oil production, were Y2K ready.

But the Gulf's apparent lack of concern or inability to inform others has had some damaging repercussions for its business abroad.

Britain this month warned regional carrier Gulf Air that it would be banned from British skies unless it came clean, prompting a flurry of assurances from the airline's offices in Bahrain that its aircraft were Y2K-compliant.

Bahrain bucked the Gulf trend, establishing a special Y2K team months ago and establishing command centres throughout the public and private sectors.

The central bank is to double the money in circulation inside the country to counter an expected increase in withdrawals from people fearing Y2K chaos, despite more than 200 banks being declared compliant.

However the official guarding Bahrain against the bug joined the rosy predictions in the region. "There will be a very smooth transfer to the new millennium," said Shaikh Mahammad bin Atiyatullah Al-Khalifa.

"The Y2K issue will be first felt in Fiji and it will work its way westward, so we, in Bahrain, will have plenty of time to see how it is developing," he said. Fiji is nine hours ahead of Bahrain.

Qatar is perhaps less well prepared. The electricity and water ministry this week said it was compliant but also sent a message to businesses telling them to prepare "contigency plans." Oman has also said it is Y2K-ready, just 12 days before the date change, announcing unspecified "plans" to deal with emergencies.

In Kuwait, national carrier Kuwait Airways Corp. is suspending flights for a 16-hour period over the New Year as a "precautionary measure." Kuwait has formed a special committee of government representatives and allocated some 50 million dollars to resolve Y2K problems, but says it expects public services to operate normally.

In Saudi Arabia, the government set up a "higher national council" to study the problems linked with the start of the new millennium and to oversee the measures being taken by the public and private sectors.



-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), December 22, 1999

Answers

"The Y2K issue will be first felt in Fiji and it will work its way westward, so we, in Bahrain, will have plenty of time to see how it is developing," he said. Fiji is nine hours ahead of Bahrain.

Responses like this suggest these oil-producing countries have done very little of anything regarding Y2K.

-- PJC (paulchri@msn.com), December 22, 1999.


1. Everybody say it with me: "With a full hour for testing..."

2. Nine hours is plenty of time to pack your tent and get on your camel...it is almost no time to find and fix Y2K problems that you haven't been able to fix until now!

3. I, too, am very worried about the oil producing nations. This is for real...and the economic life of the planet depends on it. One reason why they are complacent is that they are believing the "stuff" that is coming out of Washington, DC. The continual reassurances that everything is going to be OK...

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), December 22, 1999.


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