It might there were no good posts worthy of a Merit, so Merit Source does not distribute Merit. But if there is no good post at our local board, I think it is also possible to distribute Merit in another section.
I've got a bag of source merits waiting to be awarded ( well it's really Jet Cash's bag ), and it is difficult to find posts to reward. Every day's delay in awarding my source merits means a delay of one day in their regeneration. I am aware of this, but I believe that is is counter productive to award merits recklessly. I've seen the destruction in the world economy that has been created by toxic debt, and I don't feel that lending merits to members with the promise of future great posts is the answer. Awarding merits to enable members to increase rank without a requirement for creating a product is the equivalent of creating a merit debt structure here.