After a testing period of two and a half months, the Department of Economic Licenses is pleased to announce that it is ready to launch its online application process.
As of Monday April 7th 2014, all requests for Business, Director & Sole Proprietorship licenses will be processed via its new online application process, B.L.I.S. (Business License Information System). The goal with this system is to streamline the licensing process, cutting down on the length of time it takes to issue a business license via a simple and straightforward approval process.
In the coming months, the department will focus on integrating the software on to the Government of Sint Maarten’s website (www.sintmaartengov.org), so that persons interested in the aforementioned licenses can apply for these from the comfort of their own home or using kiosks that will be set up in the department. In the meantime, applicants can still come to the department with the required documentation, or apply via the notaries, after which the information will be scanned into the system and processed digitally via B.L.I.S.
Another benefit of this system is its link with the tax office, where crib numbers will be generated automatically for new businesses as opposed to the old system where applicants would have to apply for a crib number at the tax office separately, prior to receiving their business licenses. The system will also be linked to the Receiver’s so once payment is made, it will automatically appear in the B.L.I.S. system.
The project to automate the licensing process began with phase one in October 2012, focusing on business, director and sole proprietorship licenses. Phase two, which is scheduled to start later this year, will encompass: Operational-, Vending-, Public transportation- and One-time event (Buffet, Bingo, Raffle) licenses.
All business license extensions from 2014 on as well as new licenses processed with B.L.I.S. will be printed with a barcode, which once phase two is completed, will allow the Control Unit of Ministry TEATT to verify the legitimacy of the licenses by simply scanning the barcodes on the licenses.
“This is truly a historic moment for the Ministry of TEATT and the Government of Sint Maarten in general as we take the first step of many to modernize the various processes and upgrade the level and quality of service we issue to the public at large.” – the Hon. Minister Thaddeus Richardson said on Sunday.
The Minister also congratulated all those who contributed to the successful implementation of B.L.I.S. including the Acting Secretary General, Miguel de Weever, Senior Policy Advisor, Justine Webster, current Head of Economic Licenses, Valya Lake-Pantophlet, the ICT department of Government and Computech, the developers of the system.
PHOTO CUTLINE: L to R, first row, Miguel de Weever, Minister TEATT Hon. Thaddeus Richardson, second row, Valya Lake-Pantophlet, Justine Webster, Marc Boasman (Computech), Caren Matthew (ICT Dept.), third row, Alain Roper (Computech).