Switch off and find out suggests Shadbolt

INVERCARGILL - Mayor Tim Shadbolt wants to switch off Invercargill's power for 24 hours and see what happens as part of a millennium test run.

"I think we have to take a risk and see if our contingency plans work," he says.

Mr Shadbolt believes that a test run could find out what would happen on New Year's Day if the Y2K bug causes major disruption to services.

For councils, maintaining water, electricity and sewage services is vital and Waterworks Invercargill has already resolved some difficult problems.

"But you can't just be Y2K-compliant," Mr Shadbolt says. "We have a major responsibility to have a contingency plan."

He says city managers were horrified at his suggestion but he is concerned that things may have been left too late.

"There's a lot of people with faith in the silver bullet," he says.

"Technology has got us into this and technology will get us out, but technology helps those who help themselves." - NZPA