The story of Timor-Leste's 'Ghost Airport' and the Empty Highway: A Gamble on Oil and Gas
In the remote city of Suai, on Timor-Leste's southeast border with Indonesia, a gleaming $120 million airport sits ready, waiting for passengers. But this airport, built for large jets, barely gets used. It's a 'ghost airport', with only one flight scheduled during the ABC's visit, a medical evacuation on a tiny six-seater plane.
The airport's lack of use is a stark contrast to the promises made when it opened in 2017. Local community leader Joao Gusmao remembers being told that the airport would bring jobs and opportunities, especially for young people. But the reality is different. The airport's security and check-in desk are unmanned, and the arrival and departure screens are blank. The X-ray machine doesn't work, and the staff say it never has.
Barely a kilometre away, a four-lane, 33-kilometre 'super highway' built by a Chinese consortium at a cost of around $550 million sits idle. It's like a scene from a post-apocalyptic movie. The road is riddled with three massive sinkholes, forcing vehicles to slow down to avoid them. The highway and airport were built in anticipation of the Greater Sunrise oil and gas field being processed onshore in Timor, but that never happened.
The Greater Sunrise project, worth up to $50 billion, has been identified as the country's economic saviour for over two decades. The airport and highway, known locally as the Tasi Mane project, were built to serve the expected workforce and supply base. But the project is now a 'white elephant', with no economic return on investment. The Timor government, which owns more than half of the project, has resisted calls to pipe the gas through existing infrastructure to Darwin, insisting it be brought to Timor.
The saga has taken another turn with Anthony Albanese's visit to Timor-Leste as prime minister. He announced a plan to hand at least a third of Australia's future revenues from the Greater Sunrise project back to Timor-Leste, but was non-committal about where the gas should be piped.
The Timor-Leste government now faces limited options. It could allow the gas to be piped to Australia, use the 'political card' of potential Chinese investment as a bargaining tool, or buy out Woodside and go it alone. The community has been affected by the delays and broken promises, but Joao Gusmao still supports the government's efforts, believing that development is slow but necessary for the future.
