The government of Terengganu will examine whether turtle eggs of all species in the state could be banned, Dr. Azmann Ibrahim, Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Based Industry and Rural Development, stated.

He said that the sale of tortoise eggs allowed in the government gave Terengganu a bad picture.

"We are not allowed to sell leatherback turtle Eggs only, as laid down in Terngganu's Turtle Act 1951 (Amendment 1987), whilst other turtle eggs are allowed,thus we are seeing them sold on Payang's market.

"We also received complaints from people who questioned whether the Terengganu government had overlooked the enforcement while the sale was not illegal," he told reporters outside the Legislative Assembly of Terengganu State today.

Nevertheless, the last landing of the turtles at Terengganu was reported in 2017 two years ago, four out of seven turtles in the world, namely Leatherback, Olive Ridley, Hawksbill and Green sea turtles.

In addition, Dr Azman stated that the government is also considering the need for amendments of the Act, particularly as regards fines and penalties for those who committed offenses related to turtles, apart from studying the proposed prohibition of the sale of turtle eggs.

"The change was made several years ago and certain limited sections of fines are no longer relevant as they are too small and no protective factor in the implementation of the legislation.

"This is why I have led the Fisheries Department to conduct seminars involving various industry participants, such as lawyers and universities.The outcome of the workshop will be presented to the State Legal Advisory Office in the form of a proposed amendment for further review "he stated.