State tourism, culture and environment minister Jafry Ariffin said they need to establish how the turtle eggs ended up on the menu.

According to Jafry, the allegations involved the family of the assemblyman’s brother.

“The Sabah Wildlife Department is investigating the recent claims without fear or favour. I have had a long discussion with the director (Augustine Tuuga),” he said here today.

“Though I do understand the challenges of investigating and to prosecute with just photos without actually having the turtle eggs itself, I have directed the director to leave no stone unturned and use the department’s full resources to investigate this.”

He added this included putting more wildlife personnel on the ground to monitor turtle eggs being sold in some of the areas in Sandakan.

“It is our duty and responsibility as Sabahans to protect and conserve Sabah’s critically endangered wildlife from extinction.”

Jafry said contrary to claims circulating on social media, there have been no orders issued to stop the probe.

A member of the family had shared a photo on social media of their dinner, showing a host of seafood served on banana leaves but the turtle eggs caught the most attention.

The photo of the incident, which is believed to have taken place in the Beluran east coast district, has since been taken down but reappeared later on another Facebook page, drawing further criticism from the public who called for action against the family.

Yesterday, former state environment minister Christina Liew demanded the Wildlife Department to speed up its investigation into the claim.

Tuuga had previously told the media that his department had taken upon itself to investigate the matter although no one had come forward to lodge an official report on the incident.

Turtles are a totally protected species under Sabah’s Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997. Section 41 of the enactment states that it is an offence to possess these animals or their products, including the shell, meat and eggs.