Furthermore, another 7,315.47 hectares of Orang Asli lands that were approved for gazetting, was not only never gazetted but their ‘approved’ status was eventually revoked. Thus, from 1990 to 2003, at least 8,760.28 hectares of recognized Orang Asli lands had their status retracted. In the same period, nevertheless, there was an increase of applications for Orang Asli reserves, from 67,019.46 hectares in 1990 to 79,715.53 hectare in 2003. It should be noted however that the majority of these new applications for gazetting were to replace Orang Asli lands that were degazetted for development projects (such as the KLIA and Selangor Dam projects) or for new resettlement schemes. Even so, the status of these lands is that of mere ‘applications’. They do not have the legal weight of the second category (‘approved for gazetting but not gazetted yet’) which, it should be added, in itself was also not a good enough category to secure Orang Asli lands. As noted by the judges in the High Court and Court of Appeal judgments in the Sagong Tasi case, the main problems facing the Orang Asli with regard to their customary lands is one in which the government has failed in its statutory duty to protect Orang Asli lands from encroachment, exploitation and appropriation by others (including the government itself). As a result of the state and federal governments’ neglect in both under-gazetting and not gazetting areas which they knew were inhabited by the Orang Asli, the latter’s rights in the land were placed in serious jeopardy. 2.1.2 Problems related to Relocation & Resettlement As a consequence of not being accorded rights to their lands, whole Orang Asli communities are often subject to relocation and resettlement to make way for a development project of a public or private nature. The presumption is that these areas are often chosen because such lands are deemed to be state land or at best, gazetted Orang Asli reserves where little by way of compensation need to be forked out. ORANG ASLI – RIGHTS, PROBLEMS & SOLUTIONS 25