State Minister Jayaratne locks in argument on prisoner costs
As of today, the total number of inmates in prisons are 28,468. […] the number of drug-related offenders has increased rapidly. As per today 50.3% of the total inmates are people who were imprisoned for drug related offences. In some prisons about 65% are detained due to drug related offences [….] During this period, that is the last half of 2021 and the year 2022, just for the twenty-eight thousand inmates the Government incurred a cost of Rs. 3.9 billion on just their food. [….] the overall maintenance of the prison system is nearly 10 billion.
Asian Mirror | August 10, 2023
Posted on: 21 September, 2023
True
Latest Fact checks
MP Gammanpila raises false alarm on declining Sinhala population
"According to the 1981 census, the Sinhala population in the city of Colombo was 51%. According to the 2012 census, the Sinhala population in the city of Colombo was 28%. The Sinhala population has reduced by half. That gap has been filled by the Tamil and Muslim people who arrived from the north and east.”
Aruna | August 3, 2023
Posted on: 14 September, 2023
False
MP Dissanayake misdiagnoses the quality of SL’s health services
Even in the midst of all the shortcomings, it’s Sri Lanka that has the best health service in South Asia
The Life Traveler | July 19, 2023
Posted on: 7 September, 2023
Partly True
MP Amarasuriya: Women are contributing more but counted less in the labour force
…there are a few factors that are not considered when measuring the contribution to the labour force…[a] large chunk of unremunerated work done by women is the main type of work that is not included in these statistics. According to statistics presented through research, 60% of care-giving work…which is unremunerated, is done by women. It is while doing these tasks and in addition to it that they also engage in economic activities…research has shown that…women work at least 14 hours a day. Men work only 9 hours. It is within this reality that we are proposing that women should work more; that they are not working enough and should work more.
NPP Press Conference on NPP’s Official Facebook Page | July 16, 2023
Posted on: 17 August, 2023
True
MP Gammanpila on the CBSL’s step-motherly treatment of EPF
In addition to the provident fund of the general public, CBSL also maintains a separate provident fund for its officers […] CBSL invested its funds in places where it could get the highest returns and credited an interest of 29% from the [its] provident fund to the accounts of its officers. Yet, the general public was only given a paltry interest of 9% after [the CBSL]…
Udaya Gammanpila’s Official Facebook Page | July 4, 2023
Posted on: 10 August, 2023
True
MP Hakeem a bit dubious on Sri Lanka’s very dubious record [on economic governance]
Come September, we will be the first Asian country to be subjected to IMF review of governance diagnostic. [...] In the meantime, even in the Geneva Resolution against Sri Lanka, they spoke about the need to address the economic crimes. For the first time in the history of Human Right Council in Geneva, a government was accused of economic crimes and that again become Sri Lanka. So therefore, we have this dubious” record [...]
Manthri.lk Watch | July 6, 2023
Posted on: 3 August, 2023
Partly True