Beyond S.S.B.: DFC, INTELCO, housing projects

And cleaning up that financial act may be easy compared to the task of regaining the public’s confidence in the wake of allegations of widespread misuse of public funds.

While the focus has been on activities of the Belize Social Security Board, the S.S.B.?s sins at this point appear to be only a small part of the problem. They boil down to providing guarantees to government’s securitization programme, merely duplicating guarantees already provided by government. Where the Board got caught was that those securitized loans were in fact part of what can only be described as a government approved pyramid scheme for the benefit of one man. When Belmopan was too broke to make good on that man’s default, S.S.B. was left holding the bag.

Despite the embarrassment to the Board, its chairman and general manager, the real focus of any investigation will inevitably shift in three directions: the first is the bankrupting of the DFC by bad loans, political interference and maladministration.

The second is massive government expenditure on housing projects like Mahogany Heights that seemed to benefit everyone but the people intended to live in the houses.

And finally, the most important subject is the decision to create a private telecommunications company–INTELCO–through what appears to be a process of almost complete taxpayer finance. Until details of those four areas of concern are fully held up to public scrutiny, the climate of distrust is not likely to change.