Deputy Minister hits out at ‘fake news’ on Ella Rock firefighting efforts

Deputy Minister of Tourism Ruwan Ranasinghe has issued a statement regarding the firefighting operations in the area around Ella Rock, expressing concern over false information being spread on the matter.

He charged that various media outlets are spreading false information regarding the firefighting in the area around Ella Rock in the Ella tourist area, a world-famous tourist destination.

According to the statement issued, the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Dr. Ruwan Ranasinghe, had an opportunity to address the media during the Clean Sri Lanka program held at the Badulla Central Bus Stand premises to clarify the facts about how the fire broke out and the steps taken by the government to contain it.

The statement states that the defense sector is of the opinion that the previous attempts to extinguish the fire in the mountainous area by helicopters on various occasions were unsuccessful due to the high wind conditions in the area and it was decided to decide on the correct action to be taken to extinguish the fire that broke out at the meeting held on Feb. 14 between the Defense Secretary Sampath Thuyakontha and the Commanding Officer of the Diyatalawa Air Force Base. Accordingly, the fire extinguishing operation was launched.

The statement further added, 

“Therefore, we reject the unsuccessful attempts to inconvenience the people and the government who are contributing to the fire extinguishing operation by publishing various fake news. We request all the print/electronic media and social media to kindly publish only accurate and truthful information about the necessary fire extinguishing operations.”

On February 15, the Assistant Director of the Badulla District Disaster Management Center, A. L. M. Udaya Kumara said that the forest fire that broke out in the Ella Rock mountain range, a highly sensitive area within the Ravana Ella forest reserve, has now been brought under control.