Officials reject false claim Sri Lanka had 'deactivated' disaster response agency

"Before Anura became president, there was a Disaster Management Centre in Sri Lanka", reads a Sinhala-language Facebook post shared on November 28, 2025. 

"But the Malima (compass) government deactivated the DMC immediately after coming to power," the post goes on to read, referring to the ruling coalition National People's Power, whose symbol is a compass. "The Malima government announced that the DMC is a white elephant, wasting public tax dollars."

The post also shares a graphic with text that largely repeats the false claim. 

Other posts spreading on Facebook falsely claimed the disaster agency was dissolved with its functions transferred to the Ministry of Defence.

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Screenshot of the false Facebook post taken on December 3, with a red X added by AFP

Sri Lanka's opposition has alleged President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's government had not taken timely precautionary measures against Cyclone Ditwah despite warnings from the meteorological department (archived link).

More than two million people in Sri Lanka -- nearly 10 percent of the population -- have been affected by the floods and landslides triggered by the worst storm to hit the island in two decades. At least 638 people were killed (archived link).

Comments suggest some users believe Dissanayake had genuinely ordered the DMC to be deactivated.

"A year has 12 months, and work is done in only one month. So it's said that they can't just pay for 11 months without work," a user wrote under one of the false posts. "That's what I have heard." 

"They did it deliberately. The donations will be quietly deposited into the Pelawatte account," another user wrote, referring to the ruling coalition head office. 

'Fully operational'

But the head of the DMC, Sampath Kotuwegoda, told AFP on December 4 the body "is fully operational", and urged the public "not to be misled by the false news and claims circulating on social media".

The DMC issued reports and warnings when Cyclone Ditwah hit -- which are cited by AFP in its coverage (archived here and here). 

Prasanna Perera, director general of the President's Media Division, similarly said the DMC remains functional. 

"There is absolutely no truth in the rumours spreading on social media and other platforms that claim President Dissanayake has dissolved the National Disaster Management Council or the Disaster Management Centre," he told AFP in an email on December 8.

He went on to say the government did not make any statement about the disaster agency being a "white elephant".

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Infographic showing accumulated rainfall over Sri Lanka between November 23 and 29

The centre has been placed under the Ministry of Defence as a separate department at least since 2019 when former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa took office, and remained so under the governments of Ranil Wickremesinghe and Dissanayake (archived here, here and here).

The ministry's spokesperson Brigadier Franklin Joseph told AFP on December 8 it had not taken any decisions to dissolve the DMC.

"The Disaster Management Centre has held frequent meetings and discussions throughout the year," he added. 

Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa -- a member of the National Council for Disaster Management, which oversees the DMC -- also told AFP on December 8 the centre had not been dissolved.

AFP has debunked other false claims related to Cyclone Ditwah.