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Strategies & Market Trends : Asia Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Stitch who wrote (7679)	12/13/1998 10:15:00 AM
From: Worswick	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9980

Hello all you good old friends.. I was searching for the YK@ problem in Asia and came up with this. I only post this here because I was so startled when I read this today in the Guardian (UK)... My best to you all, Clark Millenium bug panic warning Start hoarding now government tells families By Nicole Veash Sunday December 13, 1998 Britons have been warned to stock up with two weeks' emergency food rations in anticipation of millennium bug-related shortages. The statement by Gwynneth Flower, head of the Government's millennium bug taskforce Action 2000, is certain to cause severe embarrassment to Labour, which has repeatedly assured the public that food and power supplies will not be affected by computer problems at the turn of the millennium. Action 2000, however, is advising every household to take sensible precautions against the millennium bug by buying in an extra supply of long-life foodstuffs in the direst warning yet of a potential millennium meltdown. In an unprecedented statement indicating the level of panic in official circles, the Department of Trade and Industry-funded task force, charged with minimising potential damage caused by the bug, has said that contingency planning for a worst-case scenario should start as soon as possible. "We are talking about people having a judicious amount of surplus food in their kitchen cupboards. Anyone sensible would plan for this," said Flower. "Because we don't want to see panic buying in the weeks leading up to next Christmas, consumers should think about this in advance." Flower's warning has emerged amid increasing concern over the impact of the millennium bug - a computer code anomaly that will not allow many of the world's computers and a substantial percentage of computer chips to function properly when their internal clocks reach 2000. Despite repeated assurances that the bug will be ironed out, it has now emerged that large numbers of government, utilities and corporate computer systems that control every aspect of our lives will not be ready for the turn of the century. According to Action 2000 the Government will issue a leaflet either next spring or summer, explaining what sort of food people should keep in their stockpile. "Tins, dried foods and grains will be very useful," Flower said. "Cans of soup, maybe half a dozen curries, tuna and packets of biscuits. Long-life milk would also be a good idea, although we wouldn't advise people to stockpile water. "We are talking about the sort of common sense provision that you would automatically do to ensure against any potential emergency." Despite Action 2000's advice, most of the major supermarkets are not planning to buy increased stocks of long-life products. A spokeswoman for Sainsbury said: "We feel fairly confident that everything will be normal next year. Much of our millennium preparation is going on alcohol because we think people will be drinking more. We are renting an extra 400,000 sq ft of warehouse space for all that surplus booze." Jon Woolven, research director of the Institute of Grocery Distribution, said: "The millennium is going to be a considerable logistic challenge for retailers and manufacturers." British pressure groups, including the Conservatives' own Taskforce 2000 and the Institute for Social Inventions, are also advising the public to stock up with dried and tinned food, toiletries, households products and cash. And they suggest people should save large plastic drinks bottles to fill with water nearer the date, in case water supplies are affected. A spokesman for the Cabinet Office, which co-ordinates millennium bug prevention, said: 'We are very surprised at the advice from Action 2000 and the Government disagrees with their analysis. "The food and electricity industries are among the most prepared sectors in the country and they are investing heavily to ensure that delivery and output of their products will not be adversely affected by the year 2000"