Abang Johari, who is Sarawak premier, said the GPS victory proved that the people had given the party their endorsement for Bintulu’s continued development, including the takeover of the Bintulu port.

He said Jepak Jaya will be developed to be a model industrial town complete with facilities that could attract more investments to the state, as well as developing a young workforce to fulfil the state’s development needs.

At the Jepak by-election today, former anti-drugs agency director Iskandar Turkee was elected the new assemblyman in a runaway by-election victory for GPS, which retained the seat for a seventh term.

Iskandar polled 9,638 votes for a majority of 8,784 votes. His rivals, Stevenson Joseph Sumbang of Parti Bumi Kenyalang received 854 votes while Chieng Lea Phing of Parti Aspirasi Sarawak received 431 votes.

Commenting on the low voter turnout today, Abang Johari said the turnout was expected, noting that any by-election would see a smaller turnout compared to a general election.

“First, a lot of people are working outside the state, many young voters are also still in university. The most (turnout) we can get from a by-election is 50% to 54%, but today we got 48%, it’s near to 50%, so that is ok,” he said.