Gov. Charles W. Turnbull has signed into law the bill to allow the government to borrow $32.4 million to ready its computers for the year 2000.
The bill ratifies the loan agreement between the V.I. government, International Business Machines and Banco Popular de Puerto Rico to fund the V.I. government’s Year 2000 compliance upgrades.
Even though senators approved the bill in January, many expressed serious concern about being forced to make a decision so quickly and without all the information they needed.
Freshman Sen. Anne Golden of St. Croix, for instance, said she felt “like I have a gun to my head because we have to act quickly.”
With the funding now in place, Turnbull said the government "can move ahead with assessments, acquisition and testing of necessary hardware and software to ensure the government's computer systems are ready to function after the advent of the year 2000."
Turnbull urged all agencies and personnel to make the Y2K project a priority, to “ensure the safety and health of our people.”
The Y2K financing measure is the first bill Turnbull has signed as governor.
