Buthidaung: An army airbase is being constructed by the military junta in Buthidaung Township in northern Arakan, near the Bangladesh border, aiming to strengthen the military check post on the western border, according to a reliable local source in the area.

The airbase is located at War Kut Chaung area near the Buthidaung-based Military Operation Planning Bureau, 80 miles north of Arakan State's capital Sittwe.

According to a local source, most of the workers working at the airbase construction site are soldiers and their families are from Burma. They are also stationed in the area.

The army authorities have also hired some local people as employees, but they are pro-military government, the source said.

Lt. General Maung Aye and other senior army officials including the Chief of Air Staff and a navy admiral reportedly visited the new airbase, during their trip to Arakan from January 10 to 15, 2009.

A witness said Lt. General Maung Aye and his delegation arrived in Buthidaung in helicopters and landed at the compound of the Military Operation Planning Bureau to inspect the airbase.

The lieutenant general traveled to the airbase in jeeps from the Military Operation Planning Bureau to inspect the site's construction.

The airbase is being built at the site of a former, smaller airbase, which was used by the British during WWII. The former airbase has suffered irreparable damage due to neglect.

The military junta is reportedly building the airbase to accommodate fighter jets. The construction of the airbase began after the Burmese junta found itself in a conflict with Bangladesh over a maritime boundary in November last year.