HERE’S TO A BETTER NEW YEAR – 2026

My dear viewers and readers, welcome to the “State of the Resplendent Isle”—or as I like to call it, the land where promises are as plentiful as tea leaves, but the brew often tastes a bit thin.The Political Roundup: A Reflection by Faraz

We’ve had a year of “NPP-style” change, and if you listen to the corridors of power, you’d think we’ve moved from a trading economy to a production powerhouse overnight. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) has been busy wielding the broom of accountability. But let’s be honest: while the broom is new, the dust is ancient. The 2024–2025 transition was our “Turning Point,” but the “Political Assurances” are starting to look like a high-stakes game of Tetris—lots of pieces falling, but do they actually fit together to build a house?

The Battle of the Low-Hanging Fruit

Accountability is the dish everyone ordered, but few want to pay for. We’ve seen the “low-hanging fruit”—the mid-level bureaucrats and the occasional high-profile arrest like Ranil Wickremesinghe in August 2025. It’s a start, but the “Big Fish” still seem to have very slippery scales.

The pipeline of cases is, as they say, “clogged.” My friends, we talk about bringing the billions back from St. Kitts or Uganda, but let’s look at the plumbing. We are using legal pipes to funnel these cases, but S-lon doesn’t manufacture pipes of a diameter wide enough to handle the sheer volume of political sludge we’re trying to flush through the system. We need an industrial-grade sewer system for justice, not a garden hose!

2026: The Action Plan (No More Fluff)

If 2025 was the year of “Wait and See,” 2026 must be the year of “Do or Die.”

Export Sector: We are underperforming, and it’s a tragedy.

Gems: We sit on a literal goldmine (well, sapphire-mine), yet our export figures look like we’re selling pebbles. We need a “Mine to Market” transparency that bypasses the “middleman-politician” nexus.

Tea, Rubber, Coconut: These are the old guard. They need a 21st-century makeover. We can’t just sell bulk; we need value-added, branded, “Made in Sri Lanka” premium products.

The Haycarb Miracle: Here is a spark of genius. Haycarb—using our humble coconut shells—is helping develop high-surface-area activated carbon for amongst others, in conjunction with CATL and BYD – the 2026 Mercedes 450+pure electric vehicle batteries. This is the pivot! From selling raw coconuts to powering German engineering. That is a production economy.

The Green Transport Revolution: We need a “Hard Look” at converting our buses and those ubiquitous three-wheelers to all-electric. Imagine the savings on imported fuel! If we can’t fix the traffic, at least let’s not choke on it while we wait. And it’s not like we have no players in this market. Heard of Vega Innovations? Supercar? Well that’s Sri Lankan for you. Not just a Supercar but also three wheelers, with or without air conditioning and powerful bikes too and just to put us on the map, the world’s most powerful; Mini Cooper – all electric at that and a touch of ‘eco’ too!

The ICE Age: Gen Z’s Battle

Finally, a sober note. Our Gen Z is being hollowed out by ICE (Crystal Meth). It’s an epidemic spreading faster than a politician’s lies. The “United as a Nation” drive launched in late 2025 is a start, but you can’t just arrest your way out of addiction. We need rehabilitation, not just incarceration. We need to offer our youth a future that is more “High-Tech” and less “High-on-Meth.”

1. The Export Surgery: Cutting the Weight

We talk about Tea, Rubber, and Coconuts like they are our elderly relatives—we love them, but we don’t expect them to run marathons. In 2026, they need to join a CrossFit gym.

The “Gem” Problem: We are currently capturing only about $390 million of a potential $2 billion annual market. Why? Because 90% of our gems vanish into “informal channels” (that’s polite Faraz-speak for smuggling).

The 2026 Fix: We need the “Mine-to-Market” digital ledger. By 2026, every sapphire should have a digital birth certificate. The FACETS 2026 show is a start, but we need more than a fancy ballroom; we need a “Free Trade Zone” for rough stones so we can become the “Cutting Hub” of Asia, beating Dubai and Bangkok at their own game.

Tea & Coconuts: Stop selling bags of dust and raw nuts! We need “Value Addition.” If it doesn’t say “Gourmet” or “Organic Wellness” on the label by 2026, don’t export it.

2. The Haycarb-Mercedes Connection: Our “Silicon Valley” Moment

This is the one that gets my engine revving. Haycarb(part of the Hayleys group) is using our humble coconut shells to help create high-purity Activated Carbon. Working alongside the two world leaders in pure electric vehicle batteries with a long range and rapid charging, Haycarb remains firmly based in Sri Lanka but has plantations abroad to sustain the demand for activated carbon.

The Tech: This isn’t for water filters anymore. This is for the ultra-capacitors in the 2026 Mercedes-Benz 450+ for example.

The Significance: While the rest of the world argues over lithium, Sri Lanka is literally sitting on the “black gold” required for the next generation of long-range, quick-charge EV batteries. 

If we play this right, the “Three-Pointed Star” will be powered by the “Three-Cornered Nut.”

3. The Great “Green” Swap: Buses & Tuk-Tuks

We spent decades bleeding foreign exchange on “Expensive Petrol” and “Dirty Diesel.” In 2026, the achievable goal is a 100% Electric Public Transport mandatefor urban centers.

The Math: Swapping 1.2 million three-wheelers to EV isn’t just about the environment; it’s about stopping the $4 billion annual hemorrhage of fuel imports.

The Action: We need a “Scrappage Scheme” where a petrol Tuk-Tuk gets you a massive credit for a locally assembled EV version. It’s cleaner, quieter, and finally, the driver won’t have to spend half his day in a fuel queue.

4. The ICE Epidemic: Saving Gen Z

We cannot build a production economy if our workforce is “piping” instead of “producing.” The rise of ICE (Crystal Meth) is the single biggest threat to our 2026 targets.

The Faraz Take: We’ve spent years chasing small-time users while the “Importers” sat in VIP lounges. Accountability in 2026 means breaking the supply chain at the port, not just the street corner. We need youth centers, not just jail cells.

The 2026 Checklist: What “Achievable” Looks Like

Sector	Action Point	The “Faraz” Goal
Gems	Liberalize rough stone imports.	Hit $1 Billion in formalrevenue.
Manufacturing	Facilitate the Haycarb/Mercedes partnership.	Become a Tier-1 EV component supplier.
Transport	Convert 25% of Colombo’s Tuk-Tuks to EV.	Slash fuel import bill by 15%.
Accountability	Upgrade the “Legal Plumbing” (S-lon isn’t enough!).	At least 3 “Big Fish” convictions.

(farazcolombo@gmail.com)