Tenants of CBS annex building advised to relocate |17 February 2018

The Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS) has advised its tenants based in the Central Bank annex part of the building to relocate, amid concern that this part of the building is tilting.

This decision, taken by the CBS board at its meeting yesterday morning, is based on technical advice after inspection of the state of the building.

A communiqué from CBS says the tilting of the annex was first noticed on January 3, 2018, thereafter monitored on a daily basis, and it has been established that the cause of this problem is the piling work being done on the site of the ex-Pirates Arms building, which is currently under development by the

Seychelles Pension Fund (SPF).

The communiqué says the CBS Governor Caroline Abel held a meeting yesterday afternoon with the three tenants who will be affected, namely the Treasury, which falls under the Ministry of Finance, Trade and Economic Planning, the Ethics Commission and the Department of Information Communications Technology (DICT), where she apprised them of the situation and advised that they find alternate locations with immediate effect.

“While we are mindful that a relocation, especially at this time of the month, will bring a certain level of disruption to the services that you provide to the public, notably government payments and electronic communication services, the safety of your staff is of utmost importance,” the communiqué quotes Ms Abel as saying.

The CBS will be taking additional measures to ensure the safety of its staff and public access in the main building, which remains unaffected by the piling work, while an independent study, commissioned by the SPF on the best way to address the issue, is being conducted.

The CBS says it regrets the inconvenience that the relocation will cause on the

services of its tenants and has reassured the public that the safety of its staff is being considered as a priority.

Meanwhile in a separate communiqué, the SPF has informed members of the public that the piling works at the ex-Pirates Arm site have been suspended temporarily.

The SPF communique adds that an independent specialist in geotechnical engineering from South Africa, Ground Africa, is currently undertaking an extensive geotechnical study, structural analysis and investigation of the site and foundation of the nearby buildings, especially the CBS annex. Thereafter recommendations made for stabilisation of the site and surrounding areas will be taken up and implemented, before continuing with the piling work.

“The SPF consultants are monitoring the situation on a daily basis, and immediate measures to shore up the annex building is also being undertaken,” says the SPF communiqué.