Australia’s latest humanitarian tasks for Timor-Leste have been given a once-over and a thumbs up by the man charged with fostering military links between the two countries.
Colonel Luke Foster, the Defence Attaché at the Australian Embassy in Dili, has visited Pacific Partnership 14 (PP14) construction sites to get a first hand impression of the work that a team of Australian engineers from the 6th Engineer Support Regiment has been undertaking in concert with troops from the US Navy’s Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 1 (the ‘Seabees’) and the Timor-Leste Defence Force (F-FDTL).
Colonel Foster said he was quite impressed at how the troops from different nations were able to work together so harmoniously at such a junior level.
“I think it is outstanding to have Australian Army Engineers to come to Timor-Leste to work with US Navy Engineers and more importantly working with F-FDTL engineers,” he said.
Colonel Foster said that these projects are giving a lot to the region and that they help build a coalition of nations who can work together on a regional basis.
“I have observed a couple of Pacific Partnership rotations and throughout all those activities I was able to witness the coalition building value and more importantly support to the local people,” he said
“We are supporting through health and engineering programs and these are just vital for the people in Timor-Leste.”
Colonel Foster firmly believes that PP14 is leaving behind a positive legacy.
“The construction works at the schools are important because Timor-Leste has a very young population,” he said.
“Education is going to play a vital role for this country in the future and good facilities at schools will make school life much easier for the children.”
