forest reserve’ in 1997, the Director-General explained that 1990 entry must have been a “typo”! (The Star 7.6.1999). 2.1.3 Problems related to Compensation Apart from having to deal with the problems associated with resettlement and relocation, Orang Asli also have to contend with the issue of compensation when they agree, either voluntarily or otherwise, to give up their traditional territories for others. In cases where the Orang Asli are recognised as the inhabitants of the land to be acquired (i.e. where the area to be acquired is a gazetted Orang Asli reserve or an Orang Asli inhabited area), compensation is invariably paid according to the narrow interpretation of the Aboriginal Peoples Act. In practical terms, this means compensation being paid for the loss of dwellings or crops introduced onto the land by the Orang Asli concerned. Compensation is not paid for the value of the land itself. Also, whenever the valuation is done and reported back to the affected Orang Asli, there is no indication of the basis of the valuation but just a gross amount for the items concerned. Thus, for example, Orang Asli still do not know how much a mature durian tree is valued at, compared to a young tree. Or whether the basis for calculation is the potential loss of revenue from the tree for the rest of its natural life span, or the cost of replacing the tree as a seedling, or until it is the same age as the tree lost. In some cases, the compensation awards are done without transparency and with much suspicion as to the methods and favouritisms applied. In the case of compensation for the Orang Asli of Kampung Gerachi and Kampung Peretak (for the construction of the Sungei Selangor Dam in KKB), for example, the compensation ranged from as low as RM8,000.00 to a high of RM650,000.00. However, some who had many of their fruit trees destroyed 30 ORANG ASLI – RIGHTS, PROBLEMS & SOLUTIONS