FactCheck: Recent submissions

Now showing items 201-220 of 253

    • Udaya Gammanpila: National anthem in Tamil 

      P0006;
      FactCheck       (www.factcheck.lk, 1/30/2020)
      FALSE: [According to Article 7 of the constitution] Sri Lanka's national anthem is "Sri Lanka Maatha"… if anything other than the words of "Sri Lanka Maatha" contained in the third schedule is considered to be the national ...

    • Sajith Premadasa: Women in politics 

      S1786;
      FactCheck       (www.factcheck.lk, 1/24/2020)
      TRUE: …[we] have not been able to increase representation [of women] in parliament. Even today, representation of women in our parliament is at a level of 5.8%. Our government was able to increase representation of women ...

    • Keheliya Rambukwella: GDP Growth 

      S1937;
      Media Team       (www.factcheck.lk, 1/16/2020)
      TRUE: When President Mahinda Rajapaksa took over the country in 2005, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was USD 20 billion. In ten years, we increased the GDP to USD 80 billion. - Keheliya Rambukwella, Dinamina, 4 December 2019

    • Anura Kumara Dissanayake: Transport 

      S1873;
      Media Team       (www.factcheck.lk, 1/9/2020)
      PARTLY TRUE: Only 52% of our country uses public transport… 48% of the people use private transportation. - Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Daily News, 30 November 2019

    • Ranjith Madduma Bandara: Crime reduction statistics 

      P0005;
      FactCheck       (www.factcheck.lk, 12/18/2019)
      PARTLY TRUE: During the last four years, the rates of all forms of crime […] declined drastically […] under this government compared to the previous Rajapaksa regime. The murder rate which was 646 in 2012 has decreased to ...

    • Mahinda Rajapaksa: Women in universities 

      S1598;
      FactCheck       (www.factcheck.lk, 12/20/2019)
      TRUE: Today, the percentage of women studying in universities exceeds 50 percent. - Mahinda Rajapaksa, Divaina, 2 October 2019

    • Udaya Gammanpila: Muslim population growth 

      P000;
      FactCheck       (www.factcheck.lk, 11/28/2019)
      BLATANTLY FALSE: In comparison to the 5 to 9 age group, the Sinhala population in the 0 to 4 age group has increased by 0.5%. But the Muslim population has increased by 1.4%, or threefold… When considering the trends in ...

    • 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.