A heated Parliament exchange has now escalated into a decisive clarification as the government rejects accusations of ignoring early storm alerts before Cyclone Ditwa formed.
No official announcement was made that a storm was coming. According to the government, the system was officially named Ditwa on the 28th. The Minister of Health and Mass Media, Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, stated in Parliament that the allegations claiming information about a disaster was reported on November 12 and ignored are “a flat-out lie.”
The Minister challenged the opposition MPs to table any evidence if an institution had made such an official announcement on November 12. He explained that he continuously received national weather reports from the Meteorological Department throughout November and maintained that the department had not issued any official early-warning notice during that period. He stressed that he had verified all internal documentation related to the cyclone formation timeline and none supported the opposition’s narrative.
No report had been issued on the morning of November 12. The Minister added that an official weather bulletin from the Meteorological Department is the only basis on which information is forwarded to the Disaster Management Center and other responsible institutions. He maintained that these protocols were followed strictly and consistently during the days leading up to Cyclone Ditwa.
The Minister pointed out that without verified facts, a number of MPs made false statements on a certain channel and distorted the information. He described the claims that authorities ignored early disaster intelligence as irresponsible and harmful during a period when public trust in climate alerts and disaster preparedness is critical.
Stating that no such report had been issued before November 12, the Minister outlined the official sequence of events. On November 25, a turbulent low pressure area began to develop. On November 28 at 3:00 AM, an official report confirmed that a depression had formed. Later that day at 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM, the system was reported to have strengthened into a deep depression. On the night of November 28, according to the Minister, weather announcements indicated that the deep depression had intensified into a cyclone and the storm was named Ditwa on that day. This timeline, he said, reflects the official national meteorological record.
