Apart from the monetary compensation, a separate plot of land in which the villagers now reside will also be gazetted as an Orang Asli settlement, Malaysiakini reported.

Their lawyer, Tan Poh Lai hailed the agreement reached with the state as a “great victory” for the Orang Asli.

“This is a recognition that the land from which they had moved was indeed native customary land.

“This result is an encouragement for all Orang Asli in Malaysia,” the portal had quoted her as saying.

Last year, the Orang Asli had filed a mandamus application to settle the compensation, following a High Court decision in 2010 which favoured them.

The Orang Asli tribe, led by Kelah Lah, 38, and Khalip Bachik, 57, had in 2008 filed a suit against the Land and Mines director, Johor Baru City Council and the Orang Asli Affairs department director-general.

In September 2010, the High Court ordered the defendants to compensate the plaintiffs in accordance with the Land Acquisition Act 1960 as a result of the wrongful acquisition of their land.

The High Court ruled that the land where the Orang Asli community used to reside in Stulang Laut and which had been developed into a shopping centre known as “The Zon”, belonged to the community.