COULD ANYONE PLEASE HELP WITH INFORMATION REGARDING Y2K RELATED IMPACTS ON BELIZE AS I HAVE FAMILY OVER THERE AND HAVE NO INFORMATION REGARDING HOW MUCH THEIR INFRASTRUCTURE RELYS ON COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY I KNOW IT SOUNDS LIKE A STUPID QUESTION BUT I AM GENUINLY CONCERNED AND WOULD APPRECIATE ANY INFORMATION YOU COULD ALL HELP ME WITH

-- Graham hyslop (Bob@ghoward-oxley.demon.co.uk), November 08, 1999

Answers

Ever see Gilligans Island? Belize has the same technology. Don't worry their bamboo is compliant.

-- ginger (house@of.bamboo), November 08, 1999.

Graham....you're worries are minimal...Belize City, the biggest metropolitan area, is an over-glorified Mayberry, RFD...the airport might have to have the radcom scrutinized, and the traffic light(s) might not power up, but the several times I've been there, I felt their technology was about 25 years behind us, and that it didn't seem to matter anyway....

-- Jay Urban (Jayho99@aol.com), November 08, 1999.

Great place to be for millenium.

I mean all of it.

-- Dr. Polymorph (youknowmore@thanIdo.com), November 08, 1999.

Been there. Only highway coming into one of the few towns, forgot which, has an arm-thick hawser layed across the road as a speed bump. It was not compterized.

I did not see much agriculture and food could be a problem if the worst were to happen. Then there could be racial tension between the haves and have-nots, blacks and palefaces.

-- Not Again! (seenit@ww2.com), November 08, 1999.

Belize is not really at risk for the rolloever. If power goes down, 95% of the population will not know it until the next week. About half of the petrol pumps are hand operated (by the customer, no less) and most of the peons use kero lights. The ones that would b hard hit are the expatriates that depend upon their investments and the orderly transfer of funds to their accounts. They might well have some serious problems if they run out of funds.

Truthfully, that's the only problem I see. Neither of Belize' neighbors really want to take the country since it has no real natural resources except it's beauty.

-- Lobo (athelair@yahoo.com), November 08, 1999.

Graham,

This should help (HM's FCO page):

Belize

Issued: 19/10/99

The following information has been collated by the British High Commission, Belmopan on the basis of information currently available locally. No guarantee is given as to its accuracy, and no liability can be accepted in respect of any actions taken, or omitted to be taken, on the basis of the following information.

GENERAL

A National Y2K Council was established in May 1999. The Council is made up of representatives from Government and the private sector. The Y2K Council's website can be found at www.belizeweb.com/y2k

ENERGY

The national electricity company Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) have undertaken Y2K testing at power stations throughout the country and are confident that their systems are Y2K ready. Their corporate statement and further information can be found at their website www.bel.com.bz BEL buys power from two sources: CFE, a Mexican company, and BECOL. CFE supplies 40% of the electricity in Belize and BECOL, operating the country's hydro plant, about 35-40%. BEL have no confirmation from CFE that the latter can continue to supply power over the millennium period. BEL ackowledge that BECOL could not supply any additional power in December or January, the traditionally dry months. Most visitors to Belize travel to the Cayes or tourist resorts. The most popular Cayes have diesel sub-stations and the larger resorts have their own generators.

WATER

The water and sewerage systems rely on basic mechanical equipment with no date related or embedded chips. The national water company WASA acknowledge that their pumps are dependent on electricity. Back up generators which are Y2K compliant are in place if the electricity supply should fail. These generators could cope for a limited time, providing service only to Belize City and Belmopan. Work continues on WASA's billing and accounting system.

COMMUNICATIONS

Belize Telecommunications Ltd (BTL), the only national telephone company, has replaced all critical systems to ensure that they are Y2K ready. Testing has been carried out on all telephone switches. The company has issued a Questions and Answers booklet with company specific, as well as general advice. BTL have themselves a target date of 30 September 1999 to be fully Y2K ready. A further statement may issue soon.

TRANSPORT

Work to ensure compliance at Belize's one international airport continues. The Civil Aviation Department together with COCESNA, who operate the air traffic control systems, have set a target date of 26 October to be Y2K compliant. Belize Airports Authority (BAA) have made a public statement to say that they are now compliant. Belize City Port, the principal seaport, is not computerised, except for a few word processors.

ECONOMIC

The Ministry of Finance have undertaken considerable work and are confident that all current systems are compliant. The Central Bank has recently upgraded its software to ensure compliance. A Central Bank spokesperson said that the 4 commercial banks in Belize are now compliant. The cheque clearing house is a totally manual operation and will be unaffected by the Y2K problem. The Banks are considering (no decision has been reached) closing to the public on 31 December and 3 January.

The citrus and sugar industries have undertaken significant preparatory work. Smaller scale industries generally have only stand-alone word processors.

HEALTH

There are misgivings within the health sector about compliance of hospital equipment. The World Bank agreed to fund an outside consultancy firm to undertake a review of medical equipment in Belize hospitals. This review is expected early in October.

CROSS BORDER DEPENDENCIES

There are cross border dependencies in respect of air traffic control and electricity (see above). A regional aviation committee will meet to decide country routes over the millennium period.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), November 08, 1999.