Persons doing business with the Saint Lucia Electoral Department will now have to pay for the services being offered, following a unanimous decision taken to implement this in the new financial year.
Special Assistant to the Chief Elections Officer, Cuthbert St. Juste, told St. Lucia News Online (SNO) on Friday (Jan.8) that several services that were offered free of charge will now cost persons.
The Department provided identity letters and photocopy of records for free, but a decision was taken by management, in April, 2015 that they would need to implement a structured fee for all services.
“In the past, we use to lend out the ballot boxes and screens and persons wouldn’t pay for them. We are now saying that there is a cost to it,” he explained
According to St. Juste, information on the new charges is provided in Statutory Instrument 117-2015.
The Department official also clarified that Saint Lucians will not be required to pay a fee when applying for their national identification card (ID) card, as reported in some sections of the media.
“If you lose your ID card and you cannot account for it, i.e., you cannot present a police record indicting that your house was broken into, then there is a charge of $100 to replace it,” he explained.
St. Juste further explained that if someone is registering for the first time or renewing their ID cards, there are no fees attached to that. They are only asked to take their birth certificate and national insurance card.
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