The main government locations are situated along the Castries’ Waterfront. CCL supports the
wide area network interconnecting these locations with a 1 Gbps fibre backbone. Frame relay
technology is utilised to provide interconnection to the other government locations across the
island. This infrastructure is maintained by a major local telecommunications provider. The
Ministry of the Public Service manages the various telephone networks, which includes some
Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) solutions installed by CCL.
The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) uses the Canadian company, SOGEMA’s Standardised
Integrated Government Tax Administration System (SIGTAS). The system has been in place for
about 10 years. SIGTAS enables the management of tax collection and required legislative and
business process changes for its successful implementation. It has the capacity of reminding
taxpayers about their taxes due. It allows retrieval of tax information, allows on‐line payments,
and facilitated the identification and tracking of taxpayers. About 10 IRD staff members use
SIGTAS on a regular basis. The IRD has a website, www.irdstlucia.gov.lc, which provides tax
payer information, downloadable forms and related instructions, FAQs, Press Releases and
other related information. The website also supports an on‐line tax calculator. The current
database has about 4000 companies and about 70,000 tax payers. The IRD is currently planning
for the introduction of VAT on SIGTAS by April 2010. The Information Technology (IT) Unit of
IRD has 5 technical resources. Unfortunately, credit and debit cards are not currently accepted
for on‐line payments.
The Customs and Excise Department uses the UNCTAD’s Automatic System for Customs Data
(ASYCUDA ++ Version) for customs management. This system has been in use since 2005 and is
utilised by about 150 employees. CCL provides application support and development for the
system. For example CCL has built a Duty Free Shops java application on ASYCUDA which is in
current production. Additionally, about 120 customs brokers have web access to ASYCUDA. The
Customs Department has an IT section with an IT Manager and about 6 technical staff
members.
3.7 Agriculture
St. Lucia has approximately 6,880 persons employed in a declining agricultural sector. A
national drive is underway to build a diversified agricultural sector, with donor funding being
invested in several initiatives to provide greater support to farmers and other workers in the
sector.
[17]