This was the case of the construction of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). The original site did not affect any Orang Asli villages. However, due to protests from the landowners in that site, and also because of the high cost of compensation involved, the site for the new airport was moved to Sepang where two established Orang Asli villages—Kampung Air Hitam and Kampung Busut— existed. This site was chosen because, in the words of then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed in his speech at the opening of KLIA, “…no one was living there.” And by implication, little had to be paid by way of compensation. Orang Asli lands have also been taken for projects such as the drug rehabilitation camp in Serendah, or by private housing developers (e.g. Puchong, Dengkil), for golf courses (Bukit Unggul, Bangi), for universities (Bangi, Tapah), recreation resorts (Ulu Yam, Semenyih), dams (KKB, Temenggor), highways (Kampar, Dengkil), a shopping and port complex (Stulang Laut, Johor), and also for commercial agricultural expansion. All this is possible only because the authorities do not recognise the right of the Orang Asli to their traditional lands. And because they assume that they will face little resistance, if any, from the Orang Asli owners. Regroupment is also another means by which Orang Asli are required to be resettled and relocated. A major programme of the government since the mid-1970s, the aims of the regroupment schemes or Rancangan Pengumpulan Semula (RPS), are as follows: 26 • To eradicate poverty or to reduce the number of hardcore poor among the Orang Asli; • To modernize their way of life through provision of social services and basic facilities such as education, health, housing, water and electricity supply, etc.; • To regroup and reorganise (menyusun) Orang Asli in suitable centres in their traditional areas; and ORANG ASLI – RIGHTS, PROBLEMS & SOLUTIONS