WHOSE INTERESTS DO THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND THE UNIONS REPRESENT ON THE SOCIAL SECURITY BOARD?

The Social Security Board (SSB) of Directors is comprised of 2 members of the business community, namely the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Belize Business Bureau and two members nominated by the National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB). These members sit on the Board of Directors of the SSB along with a Chairman and 4 other members appointed by the Government of the day. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) sits as an ex-oficio member on the Board.  These Board members, collectively, have a fiduciary responsibility and are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the Board performs in an efficient, transparent and accountable manner.

As of lately there have been several issues surfacing concerning decisions, proposals and other controversial issues coming out of the SSB Board Room.  Firstly, we heard about the famous Island (Cayo Frances) for which the Board acquired title in 2005. Subsequently, it was made public that the now Minister of Agriculture, Rene Montero, had gotten title for the very same island in 2007. Even though it was made public that the island indeed belonged to the Board as it had acquired title before Minister Montero, the true owners of the fund, the people of Belize were never given an explanation as to why the Board was not fighting to keep the island valued at approximately $1m.  The business community and the workers are still waiting to hear what happened to this valuable property that had for years been booked as an asset in the balance sheet of the SSB. We understand that the island was already sold by the Minister but that was neither confirmed nor denied by the Board. However, the SSB should be decent enough to make a statement on the status of this issue. Was the Board compensated with property of equal value?

Secondly we understand that a proposal for purchase has been forwarded to the SSB of some 6,000 acres of land in the Maskall area. The purchase of 6,000 acres of land by the Board would be to develop in several phases and for various projects including housing, tilapia ponds and cattle ranching. This proposal, as ludicrous as it appears, is being seriously considered by the Board.  Especially because we have information that the Board has been acquiring property in the Toledo District from private citizens, it is very possible that the Board will be lured to go after this very interesting proposal. The members of the Board have been secretly and quietly complaining about the various issues, but none has had the courage to publicly denounce what is happening at the SSB.

Finally we come to the issue at hand which the SSB, by virtue of its public statement made, is accepting that the SSB has given a Guatemalan company a contract to import and install all the glass work for a building being erected in Punta Gorda.  This has come as a blow to many businesspersons as it does not sound logic that the SSB will not favour the local businesses who are employers and major contributors to the SSB fund.

The three major stakeholders of the Social Security Board are the workers, employers and the Government. If at any point any of these are not performing and contributions decrease and the SSB fund fails to collect the revenue, the beneficiaries (workers) will suffer in the short or long term. And it goes without saying that the SSB investments should be utilized to generate more economic activity in order to assist in the generation of employment and ensure the growth of the fund.

The latest statement of the SSB shows that they stand by their decision to have given a contract to a Guatemalan company as opposed to a Belizean one only taking into consideration that the bid was cheaper. This clearly confirms that the members of the SSB Board have no clue as to the real objective of a social security system. More specifically, they are oblivious to the fact that any and all investments of a social security fund should carry the consideration of its social benefit to the community is serves and not only the economic benefit. Clearly, giving the Belizean glass company the contract for some $70,000 more and keeping 10 or more persons employed would have benefitted the Belizean community far more than saving $70,000.00. But even if we look at the decision strictly from an economic standpoint, it would have been better in the long term to keep these persons employed for the generation of economic activity which in turn enables contributions to be paid and the SSB fund to grow.

It must be underscored that the Social Security Fund is one of the largest institutional investors of this country. The importance of any decision made by this Board cannot be understated and should be taken seriously. The decision to have members directly representing stakeholders on the Board was a milestone for the SSB during the last government. However, all this is showing that even though the objective was to ensure proper and true representation of the stakeholders, this has not happened.

We ask the question … WHOSE INTERESTS DO THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND THE UNIONS REPRESENT ON THE SOCIAL SECURITY BOARD?

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