State Minister condemns attempts to create turmoil

State Minister Ajith Nivard Cabraal says attempts were being made to cause turmoil in a crisis situation created by the Covid-19 epidemic.

Responding to recent claims by a section of the media, regarding foreign exchange issues, debt servicing, etc., the Minister said: “With the advent of social media there has been a plethora of fake news being circulated all over the world.

Sri Lanka is one country that has suffered immensely from exaggerated stories in various websites, and the recent story that Sri Lanka is facing a serious food shortage is one such instance.

During the past few days, the Sri Lankan authorities have responded to a clear case of hoarding of an essential food item and the administrative steps taken to deal with the unlawful hoarding have been completely blown out of proportion to suggest that there is a food shortage in the country. It is likely that these types of fake stories are the creation of various vested interests (including the

Opposition), which is attempting to bring the government to discredit even at the expense of the Country’s good name.

At the same time, it is unfortunate that a few international news agencies and popular web journalists also seem to have been misled by these stories, resulting in an erroneous impression of the Sri Lankan situation being conveyed to the world.”