More than 26,000 firefighters and volunteer groups, as well as police across Taiwan, went on full alert yesterday to handle possible Y2K glitches.
The Executive Yuan's cross-ministerial Y2K Information and Response Center also went into operation at 2 pm yesterday.
The center was set to release a series of Y2K reports at 12:30 am on the status of important infrastructure, industry, and service facilities across the island.
The areas covered would include nuclear power stations, utilities, financial institutions, transportation control systems, communications networks, hospitals, police, and fire departments.
The center will be in operation until noon on Jan. 4 and will also be cooperating closely with local governments.
Premier Vincent Siew (
The military has put 2,000 personnel and an additional 16,000 troops on standby from Dec. 31 to Jan. 4 to handle emergencies. However, Chief of the General Staff Tang Yao-ming (
The preparations will not affect the schedules of most other troops, Tang added.
Lin Chin-ching (
Lin said the military's communications network systems are ready to support civilian networks in case of breakdown. In fact, it had already conducted several trial link-ups with networks at the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, Chunghwa Telecom, and the Civil Aeronautics Administration.
Senior officials at the Department of Health, meanwhile, said hospitals around the island would maintain a heightened preparedness throughout the night, and manpower levels had been boosted accordingly.
Hsiao Mei-ling (
Cross-district mutual support systems are in place between hospitals to handle a possible overflow of emergency cases, Hsiao said.
Hsiao admiited, however, that private health-care institutions are a major cause for concern, as computer problems there may result in large numbers of patients being sent to public hospitals.
The Department of Health has set up Y2K hotlines for public inquiry (3393-2055 to 3393-2060). The public can also call the hotlines at individual hospitals.
To celebrate the turn of the millenium and to accommodate an anticipated increase increase in passenger loads, Taipei's MRT trains were scheduled to run non-stop from yesterday until their normal closing hours this evening.
However, the trains were set to stop on their tracks for a few minutes around midnight to prevent accidents, according to officials at the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation (TRTC,
The TRTC also put a 100-strong team on standby in cooperation with the Department of Rapid Transit Systems (
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