http://year2000.com/ticker/

Please go to this site and read the 2 reports on Gambia and see if you think this seems right. Thanks for any opinions.

-- (how@confusing.canit be), January 02, 2000

Answers

I'm confused. Either they did/are having problems or they aren't/didn't. Why the about-face? What's to lose in telling the truth?

-- Shannon (Teacherof3@aol.com), January 02, 2000.

Just before rollover Canada, New Zealand, USA all stating that there would be news blackouts. IMHO because they would be vulnerable to attacks.

-- Charli (claypool@belatlantic.net), January 02, 2000.

What's Going On Here?

-- Uncle Bob (UNCLB0B@AOL.COM), January 02, 2000.

Meg Davis posted a link to an article out of the UK at the EUY2K (www.energyland.net) Y2K forum: http://news2.thls.bbc.co.uk/low/english/world/africa/newsid_586000/586 629.stm

The full article: ----------- Sunday, 2 January, 2000, 01:18 GMT Computer glitches hit Gambia

One day into the new millenium Gambia has emerged as one of the few countries so far to have experienced computer-related problems.

A Washington-based organisation, the International YK2 Cooperation Centre, says there was significant disruption to the Gambian financial sector, to its air and sea transport system and to some government services.

The organisation said the problems could not be blamed entirely on the computer bug, but that they were largely due to a delay in providing Gambia with the international assistance it needed to become computer-compliant with the year 2000. Elsewhere in Africa, a- hundred couples took part in a mass wedding in Burkina Faso to mark the new millenium.

In South Africa, about six-thousand people climbed Table Mountain outside Cape Town to view the New Year fireworks.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service --------

Here's my take on this as posted at EUY2K, based on having visited the Gambia info at IYCC site on Decemember 31 prior to the rollover:

Another possibility (and a very good one) is that Gambia has NOT self destructed. I saw a report BEFORE the rollover from Gambia on the Y2KCC site that stated that they had not had the funds to adress y2k properly and solicited funds from those Gambians living abroad. But again, that was even the rollover. The latest update from the Y2KCC site indicates that all sectors are "green". See: http://www.iy2kcc.org/country/GAMBIA.html "Additional Remarks: 3RD JANUARY 2000 IS A MILLENIUM HOLIDAY. THIS IS NOT DUE TO ANY Y2K RISKS . NO Y2K PROBLEMS IN INFRASTURCTURE IN EITHER PUBLIC OR PRIVATE SECTORS. this is an update. All sectors in the Gambia are OK. The situation as reported BY SOME MEDIA HOUSES IS UNFORTUNATE. ALL CRITICAL SECTORS INCLUDING POWER, TELECOMMUNICATION, AVIATION , BANKING AND GOVERNMENT SERVICES HAVE NO Y2K RELATED PROBLEMS. "

I would expect problems in Gambia, as I would expect everywhere, and perhaps even more (who knows, lets watch and see) but it appears that they have not self destructed at this point.

Regards,

-- FactFinder (FactFinder@bzn.com), January 02, 2000.

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Found this interesting, Gambia not too pleased with the report: Sunday January 2, 12:12 pm Eastern Time Gambia perplexed at reports of Y2K problems ABIDJAN, Jan 2 (Reuters) - An official at Gambia's Y2K task force said on Sunday his country was working much as normal and he was perplexed and angry at reports of problems with computers in government offices and elsewhere. ``We are getting normal electricity, the telecoms is fine, as you can see, the e-mail is functioning, the banks are OK,'' Papa N'jie told Reuters in Abidjan on a particularly clear phone line from Gambia's capital, Banjul. The West African country was singled out on the website of the International Y2K Cooperation Centre as having Y2K problems, especially in government offices. A BBC website, citing this source, also mentioned power outages and forecast widespread disruption to air and sea transport, the financial sector and government services. N'jie also e-mailed Reuters a statement that called these reports ``erroneous in the extreme.'' ``The central bank, the energy, telecommunications, financial, transportation and government sectors have not reported any Y2K- related problems as indicated in the reports,'' the statement added. Other residents of Banjul said life was going on as normal, with water running and television programmes showing. Government offices reopen on Tuesday after the New Year holiday. N'jie said it looked like someone had misinterpreted information on the Cooperation Centre website. ``We have a national command centre, nobody has reported anything there,'' he said. ``We have been working on this for two or three years and right at the end it is being spoilt. We are very, very angry indeed.''

-- FactFinder (FactFinder@bzn.com), January 02, 2000.

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To followup, now I can see how this story got out...the UK article appears to have just took the info off the IYCC website including the power outages that were mentioned that were stated not to be related to Y2K, along with the plea for financial aid (I saw all of this, and again, this info was on IYCC website BEFORE the rollover), and made a story out of it, without checking into it with Gambia's Y2K contacts....another fine job of shrill reporting ....out of the UK this time. So basically Gambia's "severe" Y2K rollover problems were based on info provided before the rollover, lol. Amusing. Regards,

-- FactFinder (FactFinder@bzn.com), January 02, 2000.

-- FactFinder (FactFinder@bzn.com), January 02, 2000.