“Public funds require public accounting”: Chebat calls for serious split-payments probe

By Breaking Belize News Staff (HP): A sitting Cabinet minister has publicly declared that the split-payments scandal demands a serious investigation, in some of the most direct language yet from within the government on the controversy that has dominated headlines since early June.

Michel Chebat, Minister of Public Utilities, Energy, and Logistics, did not minimise the matter when asked about it. “Listen, the allegations being raised are very serious allegations and they must be treated very seriously,” he said, as reported by 7News. “Public funds do require public accounting, there is no way of getting around that.”

The mechanics at the heart of the scandal are by now familiar. As 7News reported, payments to a company identified in the reporting as RSL all fell under the well-known $10,000 threshold, the level at which a payment can be approved by a Financial Officer without going to the Treasury Department for a second approval. The outlet reports that while the practice has become a glaring public issue at the Ministry of Defence, it is employed widely across government ministries. Those remain allegations under review, with a government-ordered audit ongoing and no findings made public to date.

Chebat expressed confidence that the government’s response is underway. “I think Cabinet and Prime Minister understands that and I think we have now taken the necessary steps to make sure that this happens, so I have every faith in the process we have undertaken,” he said, adding that he is sure the Belizean people “will see that and will understand the work we have been trying to put into place.”

Asked whether the scandal will hurt the People’s United Party at the March 2027 municipal elections, the minister pivoted to the government’s wider record. “I don’t think what is happening can define the work that this government has done. We have done tremendous work in terms of education, in terms of housing, and in terms of health care, and so you need to look at the whole picture to tell the story of this government,” he said, before returning to his central point: “These are serious allegations and they require a serious investigation.”

The minister’s comments land in a charged environment. The Opposition United Democratic Party has marched through Belize City demanding an independent forensic audit, with Leader Tracy Panton characterising the revelations as the tip of the iceberg, characterisations that, like the allegations themselves, remain unproven. The government has pointed to the audit as evidence that accountability is proceeding through proper channels.

What Chebat’s remarks add is a Cabinet voice affirming, on the record, that the questions deserve serious answers. Whether the investigation delivers them, and when, is now the measure the public will apply.

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