The investment, to be funded by the U.S government , will pay for the construction of a new storage warehouse and perimeter fence to support future Timor-Leste Defence Force (F-FDTL) and commercial operations.

The airfield, whose reconstruction began on Wednesday, is to open April 2022. The work will also lay the groundwork for the arrival of a U.S-provided Cessna 206 later in the year.  The aircraft will be used to monitor the country’s waters.

“The United States is proud to partner with the F-FDTL to rehabilitate this airfield in order to strengthen Timor-Leste’s capacity for maritime security, economic development, humanitarian assistance, and disaster response,” U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Tom Daley said.

The airfield project has been dragging on since 2018, when the first contacts about the initiative were made between Timor-Leste and the U.S embassy in Dili, but it was marked by controversy, with some critics suggesting it was an attempt by the United States to set up a base in Baucau, LUSA reported in May last year.

Responding to the claim, US Ambassador to Timor-Leste Kevin Blackstone told LUSA at the time: “There is no plan for a permanent US base or installation or presence in Baucau. This is just an offer of support, at the request of the Timorese Government, made in 2018.”

Baucau Airport, formerly Cakung Airport, is an unattended airport located 6.5 km west of Baucau. The airport has a much longer runway than Dili's Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airpor