As has been widely reported, government is under a cash crunch this October and indications are that for that extra flow, government is turning to its favorite cash cow, the Social Security Board.
7NEWS has received credible reports indicating that government has offered sell Social Security Board 200 acres of land in Northern Ambergris Caye. Government is asking that the board pay a total of $5 million for the land which is undeveloped, uncleared, inaccessible by road, swampy in areas and includes no beachfront property.
Government which controls the board and its investment committee has sent the proposal to the board for consideration and review reportedly at a meeting last week. Apparently no final decision has yet been made, but with the majority of board members appointed by government, usually what GOB wants, it gets.
Of course, the bigger issue of misuse of Social Security funds is again raised, because land speculation is not exactly a blue chip investment and from what we've seen recently Social Security's withering investment portfolio would do well with some blue chips particularly after our revelation that it invested US $20 million in Intelco money which it will now be lucky to recover when the company is sold. Where does social security get money to spread so much around? Well, in the end, it's your money, your monthly contributions that give social security its stockpile of cash. And last year, a lot more of that cash came in. When Social Security deductions were increased from 7% to 8% in July of last year, that meant an increase of $7.8 million annually in collection for the Social Security Board.