MIRI: The third edition of the Miri Bubuk Fiesta will be held this year, involving various activities during the Bubuk season in the months of February and March.
On Sunday, the fiesta was officially launched by Deputy Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts I Datuk Sebastian Ting who represented Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Datuk Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
Abdul Karim mooted the idea of combining two riverine attractions – Tanjung Batu 1 in Kuala Baram and Pangkalan Lutong in order to create a bigger scale Pesta Bubuk Miri in the coming year.
“Not far from Tanjung Batu 1, Kuala Baram, we can find another riverine attraction located at Pangkalan Lutong. Miri City Council (MCC) had developed it into a beautiful river esplanade few years ago,” he said in his speech read by Ting.
“lt has come into my mind that these two areas basically were fishing villages in the past and many of the kampung folk are still the fishermen or doing activities related to the nearby riverfront or seafront.”
Therefore, there is much to offer to attract the locals as well as visitors from abroad, Karim added.
“Perhaps, in this respect, the organisers can give a thought to combining the two areas so as to hold the Pesta on a larger scale and definitely it can be more exciting,” he pointed out.
Abdul Karim recalled in the early 1990s, there was a unique and fascinating water activity in Pangkalan Lutong called Miri Raft Race.
“Anyway, I leave it to the organiser to explore the possibility so that this can one day become a water related festival comparable to Pesta Benak in Sri Aman and Pesta Kaul in Mukah,” he explained.
“It is interesting to note that we can showcase quite a number of activities related to catching of Bubuk, which can be found in abundance along the seafront and notably in Miri in the months of February and March.
“Bubuk can be turned into products like “Belacan”, the shrimp paste, “Cincalok”, the fermented shrimp sauce, and “Cucur Bubuk, the dried shrimp fritters,” Abdul Karim added.
