wrong. given our unique role as the nation ’ s central bank, the federal reserve has always stressed contingency planning - - for both systemic risks as well as operational failures. in this regard, we regularly conduct exhaustive business resumption tests of our major payment systems that include depository institutions. moreover, as a result of our experience in responding to problems arising from such diverse events as earthquakes, fires, storms, and power outages, as well as liquidity problems in institutions, we expect to be appropriately positioned to deal with similar problems in the financial sector that might arise as a result of cdc. however, cdc presents many unique situations. for example, in the software application arena, the normal contingency of falling back to a prior release of the software is not a viable option. we are, of course, developing specific cdc contingency plans to address various operational scenarios, and our contingency planning includes preparation to address unanticipated problems when we bring our systems into production as year 2000 begins. key technical staff will be ready to respond quickly to problems with our computer and network systems. we are establishing procedures with our primary vendors to ensure direct communication and appropriate recourse should their products fail at federal reserve installations during year 2000 date processing. our existing business resumption plans will be updated to address date - related difficulties that may face the financial industry. we already have arrangements in place to assist financial institutions in the event they are unable to access their own systems. for example, we are able to provide financial institutions with access to federal reserve computer terminals on a limited basis for the processing of critical funds transfers. this contingency arrangement has proven highly effective when used from time to time by depository institutions experiencing major hardware / software outages or that have had their operations disrupted due to natural disasters such as the los angeles earthquake, hurricane hugo in the carolinas, and hurricane andrew in south florida. in these cases we worked closely with financial institutions to ensure that adequate supplies of cash were available to the community, and we arranged for our operations to function virtually without interruptions for 24 hours a day during the crisis period. we feel the experience gained from such crises will prove very helpful in the event of similar problems triggered by the century date change. we are formulating responses for augmenting certain functions, such as computer help desk services and off - line funds transfers, to respond to short - term needs for these services. beyond reliance on a sound plan

cost controller of this building project is widnell ong seng goburdhun ; architect, lampotang & loebl schlossman hackl ( chicago ) ; structural engineer, servansing jadav / thales ; building services engineer, wsp ( mauritius ) ; interior designer ; lampotang & siew / loebl schlossman & hackl. the main contractor is general construction / group five of u. k. construction started in the year 2000. this building comprises a lower basement for mechanical equipment, a basement for the vault and a basement for mezzanine linking to the existing vault. there is a podium consisting of ground, mezzanine, first floor car park, second floor car park and banking hall, third floor currency department. the third floor provides access to the garden. above the podium, the tower comprises 12 floors and two plant room floors. the height of the building is 98 metres above ground level. the floor area is 16, 834 square metres based on future staff of 445. the building is designed to last 100 years. the lower basement is 6 metres below ground level with foundation on 36 large diameter piles that go 14 metres deep down into blue basalt. volume of concrete used has amounted to 11, 000 cubic meters and 1, 300 tons of reinforcement. in fact the volume of concrete used in the construction of this building is twice the amount ordinarily used. a particular feature of the building is the wide range of special security provisions, which i am prohibited from disclosing in details. suffice it to say that once you get inside the building your picture is taken without your knowledge. your body weight is automatically recorded at both, entry and exit points. sensitive areas of the building are resistant to explosives, guns and thermic lances. mantraps and proximity card access form part of the security system. cameras shower the ins and outs of the building. movements of individuals and objects are monitored closely at a control room. in the initial stage we were given to understand by the mauritius port authority that the bank ’ s tower would have fallen within the four degrees sight band that is generally kept free from any visual interference. to free air space for the construction of the building to proceed, a new navigation sector light system was installed for the mauritius port authority. the bank spent a total amount of about rs8 million on a state - of - the - art navigational light system. it was donated