KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Parks is making a thorough investigation on the mass slaughter of turtles report on Pulau Tiga, located at the northern side of Balambangan-Banggi channel.
Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said he would wait for the department to finish its investigation before deciding further.
Masidi was responding to the recent report featuring Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) researcher-lecturer Dr James Alin, who claimed to have seen more than 60 carcasses of sea turtles at the northern eastern tip of Pulau Tiga.
Dr James said villagers had alleged that they had alerted authorities about sea poaching for years but were dismissed as rumours.
He also claimed that he received a tip-off from a fishing business owner in Kudat about the poaching activities and the sea turtles were slaughtered for meat to be sold to fishing vessel from China and Vietnam across the Balabac Strait.
Live adults sea turtles can be sold for as much as RM2,000 while juveniles can be sold for RM1,300, he said.