{"id":19372,"date":"2026-06-18T09:07:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T09:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/english\/?p=19372"},"modified":"2026-06-18T13:00:06","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T13:00:06","slug":"a-misleading-video-falsely-presents-controversial-2024-statement-by-then-ceb-spokesperson-as-recent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/english\/a-misleading-video-falsely-presents-controversial-2024-statement-by-then-ceb-spokesperson-as-recent\/","title":{"rendered":"No, the CEB Spokesperson&#8217;s Controversial &#8220;Kerosene Lamp&#8221; Statement Was Not Made Recently; It Was from Feb 2024!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-background has-medium-font-size\" style=\"background-color:#b6babf91\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.whatsapp.com\/channel\/0029Va5pj8o4IBh5WxNhlE0I\"> Subscribe to our WhatsApp Channel <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Recycling old video clips as recent events is one of the most common forms of misleading content on Sri Lankan social media. A short clip of a CEB official telling Sri Lankans that children do not need electricity to study and could use a kerosene lamp instead has been circulating again, this time presented as a statement made under the current government. It was not. Below is our fact-check.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Social Media Posts :<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The viral clip shows the official making the following statement during a discussion on a leading television channel: <em>&#8220;Children don&#8217;t need electricity to study. Buy a kerosene lamp. Why iron clothes? Wear linen instead.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe frameBorder='0' width='640' height='360' webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen src=\"https:\/\/www.awesomescreenshot.com\/embed?id=53395876&#038;shareKey=57214f377da95058b1934e79ad16eda8\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share\/v\/1DKCGmXhbF\/\">Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Separately, posts claiming this statement have recently circulated as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"724\" height=\"927\" src=\"https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-31.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19373\" style=\"width:430px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-31.jpeg 724w, https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-31-234x300.jpeg 234w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 724px) 100vw, 724px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We investigated when this statement was made and what the background was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Fact-Check:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The video is from a discussion programme that aired on Derana TV. During the programme, the guest made a statement that drew considerable public attention. He argued that the Ceylon Electricity Board should have increased electricity tariffs gradually over time to recover its losses and that the public backlash arose because the increases came all at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He went on to state that children do not necessarily need electricity to study and can use kerosene lamps as people did in the past. The official also claimed that being unable to afford an electricity bill reflects a weakness on the part of the father or the family&#8217;s main income earner and that they should work harder to earn more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We then traced when this programme actually took place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Programme Was Broadcast on 20 February 2024<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our investigation established that the programme aired on Derana TV on 20 February 2024 and covered electricity tariff revisions and power generation in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The guest speaker was Engineer Noel Priyantha, who was serving as the official media spokesperson of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) at the time and had also served as a deputy general manager of the CEB. The statement was made before the current government took office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The full programme is available below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SOa480ygwdg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/live\/SOa480ygwdg?si=M5K4SOLZ3nN2jq5v\">YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following Sri Lanka&#8217;s severe economic crisis in 2022, electricity tariffs were raised several times to meet IMF programme conditions and recover CEB losses. In October 2023, tariffs increased by 18%, placing heavy burdens on households, small businesses, and industries. Noel Priyantha&#8217;s comments were made in that context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Noel Priyantha resigned from his post on 22 February 2024, just two days after the programme aired. The resignation came directly as a result of the public backlash over his remarks about electricity consumers. After widespread criticism, he stepped down. More information is available <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/LvECY\">here<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/T9FMS\">here<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/FfGyO\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Join us to learn more about our fact-check investigations.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/factcrescendosl\/\">Facebook<\/a><strong> | <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/factcrescendosl\">Twitter<\/a><strong> | <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/factcrescendo_sl\/\">Instagram<\/a><strong> | <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMODMpgswyNe-Aw\">Google News<\/a><strong> | <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@factcrescendosl\">TikTok<\/a><strong> | <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@factcrescendosl\/featured\">YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our fact-check confirms that the video of Engineer Noel Priyantha commenting on electricity tariff revisions, currently being recirculated, is an old statement. It was recorded during a discussion programme on Derana TV broadcast in February 2024. He was serving as the CEB&#8217;s official media spokesperson at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following the public criticism his comments generated, Noel Priyantha resigned from his post on 22 February 2024. The statement predates the current government&#8217;s administration and has no connection to any recent policy or decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<style>\n  \/* Modern Flexbox Container *\/\n  .fc-author-card {\n    display: flex;\n    align-items: center;\n    background-color: #ffffff;\n    border: 1px solid #e0e0e0;\n    border-left: 6px solid #e31b23; \/* Red brand accent line *\/\n    border-radius: 8px;\n    padding: 24px;\n    margin: 24px 0;\n    box-shadow: 0 4px 12px rgba(0,0,0,0.05);\n    font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\n    gap: 24px;\n    color: #333;\n  }\n\n  \/* Stamp Image *\/\n  .fc-author-card img {\n    width: 100px;\n    height: 100px;\n    flex-shrink: 0;\n    border-radius: 50%;\n    object-fit: contain;\n  }\n\n  \/* Text Content Wrapper *\/\n  .fc-card-content {\n    display: flex;\n    flex-direction: column;\n    gap: 8px;\n  }\n\n  \/* Typography *\/\n  .fc-card-content p {\n    margin: 0;\n    font-size: 16px;\n    line-height: 1.4;\n  }\n\n  .fc-label {\n    font-weight: 700;\n    color: #555;\n    text-transform: uppercase;\n    font-size: 13px;\n    letter-spacing: 0.5px;\n    margin-right: 5px;\n  }\n\n  .fc-title-text {\n    font-size: 18px;\n    font-weight: bold;\n    color: #111;\n  }\n\n  .fc-author-card a {\n    color: #0056b3;\n    text-decoration: none;\n    font-weight: 600;\n  }\n\n  .fc-author-card a:hover {\n    text-decoration: underline;\n  }\n\n  .fc-result-text {\n    font-size: 18px;\n    font-weight: 900;\n    color: #e31b23;\n    text-transform: uppercase;\n  }\n\n  \/* Mobile Responsiveness *\/\n  @media (max-width: 500px) {\n    .fc-author-card {\n      flex-direction: column;\n      text-align: center;\n      padding: 20px;\n    }\n  }\n<\/style>\n\n<div class=\"fc-author-card\">\n  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Misleading.png\n\" alt=\"Result Stamp\">\n  \n  <div class=\"fc-card-content\">\n    <p><span class=\"fc-label\">Title:<\/span> <span class=\"fc-title-text\">No, the CEB Spokesperson&#8217;s Controversial &#8220;Kerosene Lamp&#8221; Statement Was Not Made Recently; It Is from February 2024<\/span><\/p>\n    <p><span class=\"fc-label\">Fact Check By:<\/span> <a href=\"mailto:info@factcrescendo.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">B.P. Hansani<\/a><\/p>\n    <p><span class=\"fc-label\">Result:<\/span> <span class=\"fc-result-text\">Misleading<\/span><\/p>\n  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/api.whatsapp.com\/send?phone=94771514696&#038;text=Please%20type%20your%20Name%20and%20Language:%20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2481\" src=\"https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Whats-app-sri-lanka.png\" alt=\"\"><\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Subscribe to our WhatsApp Channel Recycling old video clips as recent events is one of the most common forms of misleading content on Sri Lankan social media. A short clip of a CEB official telling Sri Lankans that children do not need electricity to study and could use a kerosene lamp instead has been circulating [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":19375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[279,8],"tags":[2291,908,5398,3883,1622,5396,3341,1080,5397,190,5395,5394],"class_list":["post-19372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-misleading","category-social","tag-2291","tag-ceb","tag-ceb-spokesperson","tag-ceylon-electricity-board","tag-derana-tv","tag-electricity-bill","tag-electricity-tariff","tag-imf","tag-kerosene-lamp","tag-misleading-video","tag-noel-priyantha","tag-old-video"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>No, the CEB Spokesperson&#039;s Controversial &quot;Kerosene Lamp&quot; Statement Was Not Made Recently; It Was from Feb 2024! - Fact Crescendo Sri Lanka English | The leading fact-checking website<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/english\/a-misleading-video-falsely-presents-controversial-2024-statement-by-then-ceb-spokesperson-as-recent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"No, the CEB Spokesperson&#039;s Controversial &quot;Kerosene Lamp&quot; Statement Was Not Made Recently; It Was from Feb 2024! - Fact Crescendo Sri Lanka English | The leading fact-checking website\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Subscribe to our WhatsApp Channel Recycling old video clips as recent events is one of the most common forms of misleading content on Sri Lankan social media. A short clip of a CEB official telling Sri Lankans that children do not need electricity to study and could use a kerosene lamp instead has been circulating [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/english\/a-misleading-video-falsely-presents-controversial-2024-statement-by-then-ceb-spokesperson-as-recent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fact Crescendo Sri Lanka English | The leading fact-checking website\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-18T09:07:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-18T13:00:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-1-3.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"622\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"420\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"BP Hansani\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"BP Hansani\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\\\/english\\\/a-misleading-video-falsely-presents-controversial-2024-statement-by-then-ceb-spokesperson-as-recent\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\\\/english\\\/a-misleading-video-falsely-presents-controversial-2024-statement-by-then-ceb-spokesperson-as-recent\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"BP Hansani\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/732d6fbd4ef9c34630f3136adfc05a01\"},\"headline\":\"No, the CEB Spokesperson&#8217;s Controversial &#8220;Kerosene Lamp&#8221; Statement Was Not Made Recently; It Was from Feb 2024!\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-18T09:07:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-18T13:00:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\\\/english\\\/a-misleading-video-falsely-presents-controversial-2024-statement-by-then-ceb-spokesperson-as-recent\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":579,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\\\/english\\\/a-misleading-video-falsely-presents-controversial-2024-statement-by-then-ceb-spokesperson-as-recent\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/image-1-3.png\",\"keywords\":[\"2024\",\"CEB\",\"CEB spokesperson\",\"Ceylon Electricity Board\",\"Derana TV\",\"electricity bill\",\"electricity tariff\",\"IMF\",\"kerosene lamp\",\"Misleading video\",\"Noel Priyantha\",\"old video\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Misleading\",\"Social\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\\\/english\\\/a-misleading-video-falsely-presents-controversial-2024-statement-by-then-ceb-spokesperson-as-recent\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\\\/english\\\/a-misleading-video-falsely-presents-controversial-2024-statement-by-then-ceb-spokesperson-as-recent\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\\\/english\\\/a-misleading-video-falsely-presents-controversial-2024-statement-by-then-ceb-spokesperson-as-recent\\\/\",\"name\":\"No, the CEB Spokesperson's Controversial \\\"Kerosene Lamp\\\" Statement Was Not Made Recently; It Was from Feb 2024! 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