FactCheck: Recent submissions

Now showing items 181-200 of 228

    • Wimal Weerawansa: MCC agreement 

      P0001;
      FactCheck       (www.factcheck.lk, 11/13/2019)
      FALSE: …last week, the [US] Millennium Challenge Agreement was signed in Parliament. Once signed, a special economic corridor will be built from Trincomalee to Colombo Port. - Wimal Weerawansa, Ada, 7 November 2019

    • Anura Kumara Dissanayake: Rape statistics 

      S1832;
      FactCheck       (www.factcheck.lk, 11/6/2019)
      TRUE: 1,600 [young] girls are raped every year - Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Divaina, 25 October 2019

    • Gotabaya Rajapaksa: Release of military occupied land 

      E464;
      FactCheck       (www.factcheck.lk, 10/31/2019)
      FALSE: "We are the people who released 90% of the land" - Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Inaugural Press Conference, 16 October 2019

    • Ashok Abeysinghe: Health budget allocations 

      S1564;
      FactCheck       (www.factcheck.lk, 10/17/2019)
      TRUE: In 2010, LKR 53.1 billion was allocated for free healthcare; in 2015, we allocated LKR 139.5 billion. In 2016, [it was] LKR 174 billion. In 2019, an amount of LKR 194.5 billion were allocated. This means that 10% of ...

    • Rishad Bathiudeen: Export Services 

      E581;
      FactCheck       (www.factcheck.lk, 10/9/2019)
      TRUE: … ICT/BPM, electronics, printing and packaging services – alone contributes to around $1.3 billion in export revenues every year. - Rishad Bathiudeen, Daily FT, 28 August 2019

    • Bandula Gunawardana: Active Liability Management Act 

      S1521;
      FactCheck       (www.factcheck.lk, 9/26/2019)
      FALSE: This government passed an act to obtain annual loans from foreigners without limitations. This act was passed by misleadingly naming it the Active Liability Management Act. According to this, they can obtain any ...

    • Mavai Senathirajah: Lands released in the North 

      S1554;
      FactCheck       (www.factcheck.lk, 9/11/2019)
      TRUE: 75% of the lands occupied by the security forces in the Northern Province have been released to the public. - Mavai Senathirajah, Dinamina, 16 August 2019

    • Ranil Wickremesinghe: Rajapaksa era exports 

      S1549;
      FactCheck       (www.factcheck.lk, 9/5/2019)
      PARTLY TRUE: In the ten years of the Rajapaksa administration, this country’s exports fell from 30% to 18%. - Ranil Wickremesinghe, Divaina, 12 August 2019

    • Udaya Gammanpila: Powers of Executive Presidency 

      S1200;
      FactCheck       (www.factcheck.lk, 9/29/2019)
      FALSE: …there has been no major change from the Presidency before the 19th Amendment to the current office of the president. Only three powers of the presidency were removed by the 19th Amendment. - Udaya Gammanpila, ...

    • Ashok Abeysinghe: Passenger transport 

      S1285;
      FactCheck       (www.factcheck.lk, 8/7/2019)
      TRUE: As of now, the number of passengers travelling by train is about 400,000… In [bus] passenger transport, the private sector does about 75%, and SLTB buses do 25%. - Ashok Abeysinghe, Divaina, June 24

    • Eran Wickramaratne: Female Labour Force Participation 

      P0002;
      FactCheck       (www.factcheck.lk, 10/24/2019)
      TRUE: Sri Lanka’s Labour Force Participation (LFP) was 36% for women versus 75% for men in 2016, which is the 14th largest gender gap in LFP globally. In 2016, young women have the highest unemployment rate in Sri Lanka; ...

    • Maithripala Sirisena: SOE losses 

      S1047;
      FactCheck       (www.factcheck.lk, 7/24/2019)
      TRUE: The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) incur losses in the tens of millions [of rupees] per day. - Maithripala Sirisena, Divaina, 4 June 2019

    • Ranjith Madduma Bandara: Drowning statistics 

      S921;
      FactCheck       (www.factcheck.lk, 7/25/2019)
      About 800 deaths due to drowning are reported annually.

    • Vijitha Herath: Interest Payments and Government Income 

      S998;
      FactCheck       (www.factcheck.lk, 7/10/2019)
      FALSE: According to the 2018 Central Bank Annual Report, when the total income was Rs. 1,920 billion, the interest payments were at Rs. 2,088 billion. There was a deficit of Rs. 168 billion. - Vijitha Herath, Divaina, 28 May 2019

    • Eran Wickramaratne: Tourism Percentage of GDP 

      S952;
      FactCheck       (www.factcheck.lk, 7/10/2019)
      TRUE: Sri Lanka’s tourism sector accounts for 5% of gross domestic product. - Eran Wickramaratne, Dinamina, 22 May 2019

    • Tilak Marapana: Release of military acquired lands 

      S750;
      FactCheck       (www.factcheck.lk, 6/13/2019)
      PARTLY TRUE: Of the 71,172.56 acres of state-owned land occupied by the security forces, 63,257.48 acres were released between May 2009 and 12 March 2019. This is a release of 88.87% of the initially occupied land. - Tilak ...

    • Ranil Wickremesinghe: Penal code on foreign terrorist organizations 

      E;
      FactCheck       (www.factcheck.lk, 5/2/2019)
      FALSE: “To take part in a foreign armed uprising is not an offence here…. there is no law to prevent you from that." - Ranil Wickremesinghe, Interview with SkyNews, 26 April 2019

    • Thalatha Atukorale: Prison statistics 

      S853;
      FactCheck       (www.factcheck.lk, 5/23/2019)
      PARTLY TRUE: There are close to 22,000 inmates in prisons. Of them, a large number is serving sentences that are less than two years. - Thalatha Atukorale, Dinamina, 10 April 2019

    • John Amaratunga: Tourism earnings 

      E377;
      FactCheck       (www.factcheck.lk, 5/16/2019)
      TRUE: When he took office in 2015, there were 1.5 million tourist arrivals and in 2018, it increased to 2.3 million. Tourism revenue was USD 2.5 billion and reached USD 4.3 billion in the same time period. - John Amaratunga, ...

    • Maithripala Sirisena: Women in the public sector 

      S776;
      FactCheck       (www.factcheck.lk, 6/6/2019)
      FALSE: of [public sector employees], 70% are women. - Maithripala Sirisena, Dinamina, 28 March 2019