Singapore developer in limbo after Timor-Leste’s shock scrapping of major township project
State slams lack of progress; Pelican Paradise rebuts claims, points to lack of water, power supply
[SINGAPORE] A key mixed-use project in Dili, with a US$700 million first phase, has been axed by the Timor-Leste government over what it said was a lack of progress after 18 years.
The developer, Singaporean-owned Pelican Paradise Group, disputes the claims, blaming delays in the state’s contractual provision of electricity and water for holding back the project in the capital of Timor-Leste.
The British Virgin Islands-registered company told The Business Times in an exclusive interview that it learnt of the Timorese government’s intention to pull the plug on the project via Facebook posts quoting a senior minister’s remarks made on the sidelines of a Mar 23 event.
Samuel Ong, director of operations and resident director of Pelican Paradise Holdings (Timor-Leste), told BT: “We didn’t see it coming. It was blasted all over social media – that was the way we found out, and we were taken aback.”
The planned development includes a five-star convention hotel, an 18-hole championship golf course, a hospital, an international school and a serviced-apartment complex.
The project ranks among the young nation’s largest proposed investments to date, with its first phase – comprising the hotel and the serviced-apartment complex – estimated to cost some US$700 million, the group said.
Francisco Kalbuadi Lay, Timorese vice-prime minister, said the government would cancel the project over the group’s failure to deliver progress, national news agency Tatoli reported. President Jose Ramos-Horta also reportedly confirmed the cancellation.
Across the 18 plots of land under Pelican Paradise’s development, only a show unit gallery that stopped at 56 per cent completion has been built thus far.
“Since then, we have not received any formal, written notice of termination nor any notice identifying specific breaches or providing a cure period, as stated in the special investment agreement,” said Ong, who runs day-to-day ground operations in Timor-Leste.
A project two decades in the making
The township project is the brainchild of Singaporean businessman Edward Ong, 78. He sits as group chairman of Pelican Paradise while his two children – Samuel Ong and Elaine Ong – helm the business. Elaine Ong is the company’s CEO.
The senior Ong’s family-run OCK Group in the late 70s and 80s was involved in landmark projects including the Singapore General Hospital, civil engineering works in several MRT stations, and tunnelling works for the Central Expressway.
In 2008, Edward Ong visited Timor-Leste with the intention of stimulating foreign investments in the country. He had a chance meeting with then – and current – Timorese Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.
Timor-Leste was then emerging from decades of conflict. After it declared its independence from Portugal in 1975, Timor-Leste was occupied by Indonesia for 24 years.
It was officially recognised as an independent state in 2002, but the new nation struggled with stability. In 2006, the country faced a major security crisis, followed by failed assassination attempts in February 2008 against Ramos-Horta and Gusmao.
Months later, Pelican Paradise and the government inked an initial project agreement, marking the start of a relationship that would span years of high-level meetings and site visits by senior government officials.
The project sits on a site spanning some 556 hectares (ha) west of Dili, between the mountainous region of Tibar and the coastal Tasitolu area. For comparison, Singapore’s newest town, Tengah, occupies some 700 ha of land while Bedok covers an area of around 937 ha, per town design guides.
Fast-forward 18 years, the relationship has taken a 180-degree turn.
In mid-April, Gusmao told local media that Pelican Paradise was to vacate the project site in 10 days. He later said that this would free up space for other investments that could support Asia’s youngest nation in its hosting of the Asean Summit in 2029.
The South-east Asian bloc’s newest member is set to chair the 11-country alliance that it joined in 2025 after an arduous 14-year application process.
Lights off, taps dry
At the heart of the dispute lies the issue of essential utilities.
While Pelican Paradise is claiming that the state has failed to uphold its end of the deal regarding water and power, the assertion has been flatly denied by the authorities.
Gusmao told the local media that the government has fulfilled all the developer’s requirements, including the supply of electricity and water.
Pelican Paradise later commissioned Dili-based environmental and geophysical consultancy KM Consulting to conduct an investigation of the site on Apr 20. Subsequently, the survey team reported that the project site had no available water sources.
A borehole, located 2.1 km from the site and reportedly privately owned, was described as “overgrown with grass and vegetation, structurally damaged, and without any pump or pipeline connection”, said Pelican Paradise in a statement accompanying the report that was seen by BT.
The survey team said the base camp had a three-phase 400V power supply, but alleged it often faltered during welding, making it suitable for lighting but not construction work. Six nearby 160kV transformers are reportedly insufficient to meet the project’s demand even if connected in parallel.
Utilities appeared to be a sticking point even when construction began in April 2023, with Pelican Paradise saying it had to use a generator set and trucked water to build its show unit gallery.
Pelican Paradise eventually halted work on the gallery, as self-funded temporary utilities were unsustainable, said Samuel Ong. But BT understands developers typically bear the cost of last-mile water supply and power upgrades.
He explained that “the issues in question go beyond ordinary last-mile developer obligations”.
The gallery was set to feature a restaurant, a site office, conference and meeting facilities, as well as a replica of the group’s three-bedroom serviced-apartment unit.
Pelican Paradise said it was told by the state-owned utility company Electricidade de Timor-Leste (EDTL) in May 2024 that the company had no budget that year to connect electricity to the site.
It then notified the Timorese government in December 2024 that it would suspend operations the following month.
The developer said follow-up letters to EDTL and water utility BTL in 2025 did not receive what it deemed substantive responses, while a September coordination meeting chaired by TradeInvest Timor-Leste reportedly ended without resolution.
Muddy waters
The path forward for Pelican Paradise’s project seems murky.
Pelican Paradise first arrived in Timor-Leste when the country had its fourth constitutional government, said Samuel Ong. “Now it’s the ninth, and we haven’t built a single thing yet (except for the show unit gallery),” he said.
“We are looking closely at the agreement to see what our available options are. We’re really taking it one step at a time,” said Elaine Ong.
According to the terms set out in the special investment agreement published in the Timorese government gazette, disputes between both parties shall be referred to and finally resolved by arbitration administered by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, with the seat of the arbitration to be Singapore. The tribunal will comprise three arbitrators.
“Our preference remains to have a negotiated resolution,” said Samuel Ong.
Timor-Leste is not the family’s first foray into property development.
After the senior Ong discontinued OCK Group’s construction business in 1994, he ventured into hospitality – founding and developing Sutera Harbour Resort in Sabah, Malaysia. For his contributions, he was conferred datukship in 2001. In 2014, he sold control of the group to billionaire “Popiah King” Sam Goi for RM700 million (S$269.7 million at the time).
BT has reached out to BTL, EDTL, TradeInvest and the government spokesperson’s office over multiple platforms for comment. They have yet to officially respond.
Mired in delays
The project has been plagued with a series of setbacks since inception in 2008.
During site survey and excavation works in February 2010, the developer found nine sets of skeletal remains.
According to a 2010 report by the late Australian human rights advocate and author Patrick Walsh, forensic findings indicated that the remains belonged to victims of extrajudicial executions from the late 70s to early 80s.
Pelican Paradise said that it worked with the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine in Australia and local police to carry out investigations that ended in August 2011, and voluntarily returned the 56.77 ha of leased land to the Timorese government in 2015.
A second snag quickly followed. The developer said its initial land lease signed in August 2010 could only legally commence after the three sewage ponds on the project site were decommissioned – a process completed by the government in 2013. It added that it provided ex-gratia contractor settlement costs arising from the delay.
In the same year, an Asian Development Bank-backed road network upgrade that would cut through the developer’s planned hotel site necessitated a master plan redesign.
In 2017, leased land designated for an international school and hospital was discovered by the state to be privately owned and hence reclaimed by the government, said Pelican Paradise. Alternate state-owned land was provided as a replacement, but the group had to revise its designs for the individual affected developments to reflect the new land parcels.
In August 2021, the senior Ong wrote a formal letter to then-Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak informing him that the developer’s activities would be suspended if the special investment agreement was not officially inked by the next month. The signing eventually took place in January 2022, followed by ground-breaking in November 2022 and construction in April 2023.
Decoding Asia newsletter: your guide to navigating Asia in a new global order. Sign up here to get Decoding Asia newsletter. Delivered to your inbox. Free.
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
