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2. Interpretation

In this Act —

“accountable officer” —

(a) means a public officer or accounting officer who —
1. (i) is concerned with or responsible for the collection, receipt, custody, issue or payment of public monies, stores, stamps, investments, securities, or negotiable instruments, whether the property of the Government or on deposit with or entrusted to —
  1. (A) the Government;
  1. (B) a public officer in his or her official capacity either alone or jointly with any other public officer or any other person,
1. (ii) ensures that the appropriation required for multiyear contracts are reflected in the budget submissions to the Ministry of Finance, and for reflecting the cash flow requirements of the contract as required by the Ministry of Finance,
1. (iii) ensures that goods and services are procured from suppliers for the Government only in accordance with the law for regulating public procurement;

(b) includes —
1. (i) a collector of revenue, or
1. (ii) a public officer who works under the direction and supervision of an accounting officer;

“Accountant General” means the public officer who is appointed as the Accountant General in the Ministry of Finance;

“accounting officer” means —

(a) in the case of a ministry, department or office the Permanent Secretary;

(b) in the case of a ministry, department or office without a Permanent Secretary, a public officer who is the head or performs the duties of a head of the ministry, department or office;

(c) in the case of a statutory body, the Chief Executive Officer or a person who is the head of the statutory body, unless the enactment relating to the statutory body specifies another person to be the head of the statutory body;

“Appeals Tribunal” means the Appeals Tribunal established under section 99;

“Appropriation Act” —

(a) means an Act which authorizes the application of a sum out of the Consolidated Fund to provide for the services of the Government for a financial year; and

(b) includes a Supplementary Appropriation Act;

“Appropriation Bill” means a bill introduced in the House of Assembly providing for the —

(a) issue from the Consolidated Fund of the sums necessary to meet the estimates of expenditure of the Government for a financial year; and

(b) appropriation of sums under paragraph (a) in separate classification votes for services and purposes as required under section 79 of the Constitution of Saint Lucia;

“budget” means the Estimates approved by the House of Assembly for a financial year;

“Central Public Procurement Board” has the meaning assigned to it under the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act;

“Chairperson” —

(a) in relation to the Inquiry Committee, means the Chairperson appointed under section 87(2);

(b) in relation to the Appeals Tribunal means the Chairperson designated under section 99(2);

“collector of revenue” means a public officer who is designated under section 12(1)(f) and is responsible for the collection, receipt and custody of public monies, securities or other negotiable instruments for or on behalf of the Government;

“Consolidated Fund” means the Consolidated Fund established under section 77 of the Constitution of Saint Lucia;

“Constituency Council” means a Council established under section 4 of the Constituency Councils Act;

“Contingencies Fund” means the Contingencies Fund established under section 15;

“contingent liability” —

(a) means a financial liability of the Government that arises on the outcome of a future event;

(b) includes —
1. (i) a guarantee of payment obligations of a statutory body,
1. (ii) an agreement to provide financial support to a statutory body in connection with a specified activity,
1. (iii) a liability arising from a public-private partnership agreement,
1. (iv) a liability arising from a prescribed agreement;

“department” means a department of Government assigned to the Prime Minister or any other Minister with the responsibility for any business of the Government under section 62 of the Constitution of Saint Lucia;

“Director of Audit” means the public officer who is referred to under sections 84 and 90 of the Constitution of Saint Lucia;

“Director of Finance” means the public officer who is appointed by the Public Service Commission to hold the office of Director of Finance in the Ministry of Finance;

“Director of Public Procurement” means the public officer appointed by the Public Service Commission to hold the office of Director of Public Procurement in the Ministry of Finance;

“disaster” means the occurrence or threat of occurrence of an event or other calamity posing a significant widespread threat to human life, property or the environment, whether caused by an act of God or otherwise, which results —

(a) in —
1. (i) loss, injury or threat of injury, disease or death,
1. (ii) damage to property, infrastructure or the environment,
1. that exceeds the ability of those affected to cope with the effects of the disaster by using only their own resources;

(b) from an accident, act of terrorism, a fire, storm, hurricane, pollution, disease, earthquake, drought, flood or the widespread dislocation of the essential services and scarcity of essential supplies;

“Eastern Caribbean Central Bank” means the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank established under Article 3 of the Agreement establishing the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank made on the 5th day of July 1983 the text of which is set out in the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Agreement Act;

“essential service” means a service established, maintained or operated by the Government, or by a public or private enterprise, or otherwise, for —

(a) the collection, storage, purification or distribution of water for use by the public or a class of the public;

(b) the removal or handling of deceased persons or disposal of dead animals;

(d) the provision of telecommunications;

(e) the transportation of a class of the public;

(f) the provision of trucking services related to the movement and delivery of essential services and the food chain;

(g) the provision of cleaning services;

(h) the provision of fire, police, correctional services, private security services and services by the Castries City Police;

(i) the operation of points of entry to allow only for cargo handling and departure of persons from Saint Lucia;

(j) any other prescribed service;

“essential supplies” means the inputs required to carry out an essential service for the preservation of life;

“Estimates” —

(a) means the estimates of revenue, capital expenditure and current expenditure referred to under section 79(1) of the Constitution of Saint Lucia;

(b) includes a Supplementary Estimate;

“financial management system” means a method, electronic or otherwise, that is adopted or authorized by the Accountant General under sections 10(2)(e) and 11(b);

“financial year” means a period of 12 months ending on the 31^st day of March in a year;

“fiscal policy” means a fiscal policy formulated under section 26;

“fiscal risk” means the uncertainty arising from unforeseen economic developments that are not included in the budget and requires spending or a commitment as a result of —

(a) economic outcomes that differ from the budget;

(b) the structure of public debt;

(d) the realization of other contingent liabilities;

(e) the occurrence of a disaster; or

(f) the declaration of a state of emergency for the purposes of Chapter 1 of the Constitution of Saint Lucia;

“fiscal target” means the specified quantitative limit to assist in achieving fiscal and debt sustainability objectives against which specified fiscal variables are measured and monitored;

“gender equality” means the state of equal access to resources and opportunities in considering the interests, needs and priorities of men and women;

“Government Agency” means a ministry, department, office or statutory body whether located in or outside Saint Lucia;

“Government Borrowing” —

(a) means a loan or other debt financing;

(b) includes securities issued by the Government;

“Internal Audit Unit” means the Internal Audit Unit under section 48;

“Inquiry Committee” means the Inquiry Committee appointed under section 87;

“Minister” means the Minister responsible for finance;

“ministry” means the Ministry of Government assigned to the Prime Minister or any other Minister with responsibility for the business of Government under section 62 of the Constitution of Saint Lucia;

“multi-year commitment” means a commitment by the Government for the purchase of goods and services from a supplier for which the expenditure which was incurred in one period will become due and paid over a period extending beyond the financial year in which the purchase was made;

“multi-year contract” means a contract for the supply of goods, works, and services between the Government and a contractor for which the contract period is more than one financial year but does not exceed 5 consecutive financial years;

“negotiable instrument” means a bill of exchange, cheque and promissory note or other instrument under the Commercial Code, Cap. 244 of the Revised Laws of Saint Lucia 1957;

“payment instrument” includes —

(a) a payment voucher;

(b) a procurement invoice;

(c) a machine-readable instruction that is transmitted electronically by a data communication network or recorded on magnetic tape, disk, diskette or other electronic device;

(d) any other instrument that is approved by the Accountant General under section 10(2)(g);

“Permanent Secretary” means the public officer whose office is referred to as the office of a permanent secretary under section 69 of the Constitution of Saint Lucia unless otherwise specified;

“Public Accounts” means the Public Accounts under section 75;

“Public Accounts Committee” means the Public Accounts Committee established under section 67 of the House of Assembly Standing Orders, 1979;

“public asset” —

(a) means property, whether movable or immovable, intangible, financial or non-financial that is owned in whole or in part by the Government;

(b) includes —
1. (i) bank deposits,
1. (ii) equipment,
1. (iii) investments,
1. (iv) negotiable instruments,
1. (v) public money,
1. (vi) plant,
1. (vii) receivables,
1. (viii) stores,
1. (ix) stamps,
1. (x) securities,
1. (xi) books, papers and documents;

“public finance management” means —

(a) the collection, receipt and safe custody of public monies in a transparent and accountable manner;

(b) the formulation of a budget to allocate resources;

(d) borrowing and investing public monies; and

(e) preparing annual financial accounts and statements of Government finances;

“public monies”—

(a) means money that belongs to the Government or is held or to be held in trust by the Government for another person or entity;

(b) includes —
1. (i) money raised or received for the purposes of the Government,
1. (ii) money or funds held, temporarily or otherwise, by a public officer in an official capacity, either alone or jointly with another person, whether or not that other person is a public officer,
1. (iii) revenue;

“public officer” means a person holding or acting in a public office;

“public-private partnership” has the meaning assigned to it under the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act;

“publish” in relation to a document, includes —

(a) publishing a document in a newspaper, Gazette or other publication of general circulation;

(b) publishing an abridged or summary version of a document without losing the core content of the document;

(c) making a document available for reference at a public library, Government Agency or in the archives of that Government Agency;

(d) posting a document on the Government's official website;

“receiver of revenue” means —

(a) the Accountant General;

(b) a public officer who is designated under section 11(f) and is responsible for receiving monies, securities or other negotiable instruments for or on behalf of the Government;

“repealed Act” means the Act repealed under section 113;

“responsible Minister” means the Minister assigned to a department or ministry other than the Minister;

“revenue” means a receipt of income, including a tax, fee, interest, grant, royalty, surcharge, proceeds of forfeiture, rent and due, proceeds of sale and other sources of income in which the House of Assembly exercises the power of appropriation;

“Secretary” —

(a) in relation to the Inquiry Committee, means the Secretary appointed under section 87(3);

(b) in relation to the Appeals Tribunal, means the Secretary of the Appeals Tribunal appointed under section 105;

“securities” has the meaning assigned to it under the Securities Act;

“sinking fund” means a sinking fund established under section 20;

“social inclusiveness” means a process for analyzing the projected impact and benefit to the needs of a marginalized group of persons or other groups of persons;

“special fund” means a special fund established under section 22;

“statutory body” —

(a) means a body set up, for market-based for profit or non-market-based not for profit, by an enactment with powers and operational autonomy —
1. (i) to provide goods and services to the public,
1. (ii) for a public purpose, or
1. (iii) to carry out a Government-related function, and is under the control of the Government;

(b) includes —
1. (i) a Constituency Council or other governing body of an area in Saint Lucia,
1. (ii) a board, commission or an agency,
1. (iii) a company in which the Government owns share capital;

“statutory expenditure” means expenditure that is required or authorized as a charge on the Consolidated Fund by —

(a) the Constitution of Saint Lucia;

(b) any other enactment;

“Supplementary Appropriation Act” means an Act to authorize the application of a supplementary sum out of the Consolidated Fund to supplement an appropriation that has been made by an Appropriation Act;

“Supplementary Appropriation Bill” means the bill referred to under section 79(3) of the Constitution of Saint Lucia;

“Supplementary Estimate” means a Supplementary Estimate referred to under section 79(3) of the Constitution of Saint Lucia;

“surcharge” means an amount imposed on a public officer by the Director of Finance under section 93;

“trust fund” —

(a) means a trust fund established in accordance with section 25 under an enactment other than an Appropriation Act;

(b) includes money held or deposited with or entrusted to the Government under the terms of a deed of trust, trust instrument, agreement, written or implied, or an arrangement governing the use of money so held;

“warrant” means —