Claim: Graphic of President AKD stating that he has publicly claimed that the government will take over fuel stations of distributors who become too difficult.
Fact: This claim is false. The President has not given a public statement about the fuel issue.
A graphic, carrying an alleged remark by the President of Sri Lanka warning fuel distributors about possible takeover of fuel stations by the government, is being widely circulated on social media platforms.
The viral graphic carries an image of the President, with the alleged quote by him, which reads, “If [fuel distributors] start getting too difficult, the government will take over fuel stations/sheds. We won’t let them take unfair commissions.”
Similar posts can be found here and here.
The image is viral in context of the recent controversy around fuel distribution in the country. There is public panic related to a possible fuel shortage due to a 3% commission offered to fuel distributors by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation being deemed illegal by the government. Due to this, the Newschecker team decided to look at the accuracy of this claim.
Fact Check/Verification
After a reverse image search, we noted that the image of the President used in the graphic was first used on a post on the NPP website soon after he came to power in October 2024. The post is about a completely unrelated matter, where he met with the Education Ministry officials to check their progress on certain policy changes.
We then decided to do a keyword search for any statements issued by the President about plans for fuel distribution and/or a fuel shortage in the current public panic. We noticed that most statements about the matter have been made by members of Parliament such as Deputy Finance Minister Anil Jayantha Fernando and the CPC Chairman D.A. Rajakaruna. Records of such public statements can be found here and here.
However, there are no records of the President making any statement about the issue.
We then contacted the President’s Media Division about this matter. Denying the claim made in the viral post, we were informed that the President has not made a statement about the government taking over fuel stations that do not supply fuel to citizens.
Conclusion
President AKD has not said that the government will take over fuel stations of distributors who become too difficult. The claim is false.
Result: False
Our Sources
‘President Anura Kumara Dissanayake Urges Urgent Education Reform’, published on the NPP Sri Lanka website, October 16, 2024
Conversation with President’s Media Division
