Voon (fourth right), Stevenson (fourth left) and other PBK members after the nomination process yesterday.
BINTULU (Oct 22): Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK)’s candidate for the Jepak by-election Stevenson Joseph Sumbang said he will focus on local issues during his campaign.
Steveson, who is contesting for the second time in constituency, claimed that there are many local issues in Jepak that still could not be solved by the government of the day.
“All these issues have been going on for 60 years and people have been talking about it for years.
“If I am given the mandate, I will fight for it especially for the people in the coastal and rural areas of Jepak,” said the 42-year-old businessman yesterday.
Meanwhile, PBK president Voon Lee Shan urged Jepak constituents to exercise their voting duty responsibly in the by-election.
“We are fighting hard even though we don’t have the numbers. Elections are about money – we can’t give people free chicken wings, free beers and free things.
“If the other parties want to give something for free, by all means but the people must think wisely as nothing is free in this world,” he told reporters at the Bintulu Civic Centre nomination centre yesterday.
Besides Stevenson, the other candidates contesting in the Jepak by-election are Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party who fielded a businessman Chieng Lea Phing and Gabungan Parti Sarawak’s (GPS) Iskandar Turkee, who is aiming to retain the seat for the coalition on Nov 4.
On Stevenson being fielded for the second time after garnering only 587 votes in the 12th state election in 2021, Voon said there is no issue of how many elections one has been involved in.
Voon said the party will continue to fight and create awareness about the party’s struggle to the people of Sarawak and Sabah, and called for all voters in Jepak to vote for PBK to ensure that the party will be victorious in the Jepak by-election.
A total of 22,804 registered voters in Jepak constituency are eligible to participate in the by-election following the demise of its six-term assemblyman Datuk Talib Zulpilip last month.