It is a maze of cramped desks, each cluttered with stacks of files. Staff are busily consulting with each other in a swirl of activity in narrow aisles clearly meant for nothing more than pedestrians in single file.

There appears to be urgency in the air and everyone looks professional and busy in the most densely populated workplace in Bermuda. People are almost oblivious to the congestion.

Is it a sweat shop, a busy newsroom or an office of traders? No. It is the Accountant General's office.

And at the end of one of the narrow aisles, that must be negotiated with care, there is the corner office of one of the best paid women in Government.

And from what we hear, she may also be one of the hardest working.

Mrs. Heather Jacobs Matthews, born on Guy Fawkes Day, is a real firecracker as accountant general, overseeing a staff of 42 since January 1994.

She admits there was no honeymoon period. When she took over the helm she was thrown in at the deep end.

"There's quite a lot of work. I thought that I would have a chance to get familiar with the way things operate. But we're just trying to cope with the day-to-day running of the office.

"Of course, I have some excellent staff who know exactly what they have to do. I'm managing it, but it has been quite a hectic period with 12-14 hour days. I've been trying to cut back.'' For a woman with a family that includes two children, she began the current job by working up to 17 hours a day, every day. This year she cut back, although she still takes work home and works every weekend.

"The thing is that the work has to be done. I'm busy trying to get on top of things and it still will take some time. The new financial reporting system that went live April 1 has created more work.

"We are dealing with paying all Government bills, salaries, wages, pensions.

We are dealing with the Public Funds Investment Committee, the accounting for the Consolidated Fund, the National Pension Fund, the Health Insurance Fund and it just goes on and on. We collect land tax, passenger tax and we are the debt collection office for the Bermuda Government. There are other functions.

"The other important area we haven't been able to concentrate on is the internal audit function. There are two people in that section and their primary goal is to ensure that Government departments comply with financial instructions, make sure the control of the revenues and expenditures are in accordance with general instructions.

"The two people in that department right now are just busy putting out fires.

It is tough considering there are 55 departments and 4,000 staff.'' Even after 15 months she said that the job is still really new and she has not had the time to get to really know what exactly is happening in all areas. She wants to put some attention into every department to see how her staff are coping and what improvements can be made.

"I like to be able to do a job and do it well and feel really confident at the end of the day. I want things to run smoothly. I want to be comfortable, even though I know you can't be comfortable all the time.

"I don't mind responsibility. Give me the work and I'll get it done. But of course I need proper resources. You see the condition of the office out there.

I've got to get the Ministry of Finance and the money to tidy up the office.

"It's quite messy out there with 43 people all in this little area, here.

That is a major concern for me, right now, trying to get the proper work stations, the computer facilities. It's much too tight out there, too congested, especially when you are dealing with so many confidential matters.

"We don't have enough space. We are working on it, but it is taking so long.

The staff are trying to overlook the situation, and get on with their work, but it is a priority for me.'' The screen-saver on the computer in her office does not offer up the standard fare of some random pattern, but instead pumps out a powerful message. She tailor-made a simple design that every three minutes scrolls across the screen in bold type, Reinhold Niebuhr's "Serenity Prayer'': "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference ...'' "I need that. I need all the courage and serenity,'' she said laughing as we discussed her workload. "I need to read that every day.'' She has been in the public sector for 15 years. She was the tax commissioner for four years, the deputy auditor for nine. In the private sector, she had been with Price Waterhouse/Gray & Kempe for three years, where she articled and obtained her Chartered Accountancy designation.

Her academic career is somewhat unique. The unusual began the first year of elementary school, which lasted less than half a day when teachers realised her reading level was off-the-scale for kindergarten. The surprised child, who was barely five years old, was taken instead to a class two or three years ahead.

"I believe I was at school when I was two and a half,'' she smiled brightly.

"I was at Seaton's (pre-school), I went to Ms Tankard's, Ms Powell's, even before I went to Central School.'' From Central, she was off to Berkeley Institute, where she admits she coasted, finishing at age 15. She was one of the first students of the forerunner to the Bermuda College, the Sixth Form Centre.

After almost a year there, she went to work at the Bank of Bermuda, taking home her first week's pay cheque of 14.10 in 1968.

At her current Government pay grade of PS43, public records show her salary at $92,633.

She took accounting in night school when she started in the business world.

Meanwhile, she moved to Bank of Butterfield, was assistant accountant at Shell and then assistant accountant at Stuart's.

And then at 21, she went to Dalhousie University as a mature student for a three year programme where she obtained a bachelor's degree in commerce, with distinction, majoring in accounting.

After obtaining better-than-ordinary grades at Berkeley, she was at the top of her class in university, finishing with a 3.98 grade point average.

Today, only two women, the permanent secretary for Education, Dr. Marion Robinson and Puisne Judge the Hon. Mrs. Justice Wade, (and many men) are higher in the civil servants' pecking order.

The 43-year-old takes a lot of work home. She said she can attend to the children, ages eight and 14, and then settle down to work at night. She wants to spend more time with the children. But there is a lot of work that she gets accomplished at home.

"I can't do my reports during the day, because I'm so busy. They've given me a PC for home and I do my reports at night.

"Once I get the kids settled after nine o'clock at night, I can go to two or three in the morning and still get to the office first thing in the morning.'' Sitting in her office is a plaque which makes her laugh. It reads, "Put all your money into taxes. It's the only thing sure to go up.'' Then there's the bouquet of flowers. The card reads, "To Heather from staff.'' What's that all about? "I don't know. The flowers came a couple of days ago. I asked what it was about and they just said they appreciate me. We are part of a team here who are about serving the public. They are working hard with the new financial reporting system, working a lot of late hours.'' Her academic life is not done. She wants to finish up her Masters degree in Business Administration. At Dalhousie, her spectacular grades won her a fellowship to complete the Masters, a fellowship she was never able to use. It is no longer available, but she still wants to complete the programme. She also wants to do the Chartered Financial Analysts three year programme.

ACCOUNTANT GENERAL Heather Jacobs Matthews