Chebat Steps Into Espat’s Big Shoes
The Prime Minister has made his case for Michel Chebat. Now the minister himself is speaking. After months of turnover at the top of Belize’s security sector, the government is banking on Chebat to bring continuity to a ministry that has seen four different ministers since the 2025 general elections. He steps into the shoes of Julius Espat, whose short tenure raised expectations. In his first interview since taking the post two weeks ago, News Five asked Chebat how he is settling in, and how he plans to follow that act. Here is what he told us.
Michel Chebat, Minister of National Security
“ I think the first thought that went through my mind was, “This is a lot of work. This is gonna be a lot of work.” And, um, my immediate concern was really to understand the kinda structures that existed within these organizations to know what I would have to work with.”
Shane Williams
“You have taken up after Ministry of Infrastructure is that they had a honeymoon period. You have a ministry that has a lot of infrastructure needs, and- Yes … we had a three-month relationship where everything was. How do you move on from that now, that type of expectation has been set. where infrastructural resources are available?”
Michel Chebat
“So, I was fortunate enough that right after my appointment, I had a really good conversation with the Honorable Julius Espat, and he was actually kind enough to share with me the assessment of the police stations he did across the country. And so now my job is to go out and find the finances to be able to correct some of those things that he has identified.”
Shane Williams
“You think you’ll be able to do that with a limited budget?”
Michel Chebat
“Not overnight. Not overnight, but it is, it is a work in progress and I am sure I’m gonna get cabinet support to start making some of these changes”
Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.
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