Y2K: Business as usual on February 29

February 29, 2000

All local essential services have been operating as usual since the rollover to February 29, 2000 (Tuesday).

Deputy Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting and Controller of the Government's Y2K Central Coordinating Centre (CCC), Mrs Jessie Ting, said, "The leap year rollover in Hong Kong has, as expected, been smooth. None of the 13 essential services sectors has encountered any Y2K - induced problems so far."

The 13 essential services sectors are aviation, broadcasting, energy supply, environment, fire and emergency services, financial services, food supply, border control, port management, public health, public order, telecommunications and transport.

"All Government bureaux/departments with mission-critical systems have checked their systems and confirmed that they are unaffected by the leap year date change," Mrs Ting said.

The Government's CCC has been monitoring the February 29 rollover in Hong Kong since 6.30 pm yesterday (Monday). Following its closure this evening, Y2K -related developments will continue to be monitored by the Information Technology and Broadcasting Bureau.

Mrs Ting said the territory's smooth rollover to February 29 was attributable to comprehensive preparations beforehand . The experience gained from the operation of the Y2K CCC and the 13 sector-wide coordinating centres had helped the Government to set up an effective monitoring and coordinating mechanism to deal with emergency situations in future.

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