Pamata brings night life to sleepy Marudi town

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Patrons at the night food centre in Marudi Town called Pamata.

MARUDI: The setup of Pasar Malam Tamu Marudi (Pamata) not only has made the night activities at Marudi town livelier, but it has also become a food paradise for locals and visitors.

Its promoter Nurzaharah Hassan said she and a few food operators set up night food centre to make extra income for herself and others and at the same time, bring new lease of life to Marudi town especially when the sun sets.

“After sunset, Marudi town is so quiet and I thought why not provide a hang-out places for locals and visitors in the evening and also a place to eat and drink,” she told Borneo Post Adventure Team (Bat) 7 who were at the town recently.

“Our objective was really to help small food operators who wanted to do business but they did not have the place to do it,” she added.

Nurzaharah said the night food centre would really give the opportunity for single mothers and young entrepreneurs in Marudi to expand their business horizon and to foster closer relationship among the various races who come to do business and to those who patronise the place.

She said before this, there was a failure in similar eatery but this time she sought assistance from Baram District Council (BDC) to assist the operators on how to better operate the stalls.

“We have the support from BDC and other established food operators in town and those who want to join us,” she said.

Nuzaharah said she wanted the place to be further expanded and for Pamata to become one of the destinations for visitors coming to Marudi.

“We want people to try our local delicacies for example Marudi stir-fried kway teow, fish crackers made from Ikan Belidak, freshwater prawn which are all availabale at Pamata,” she said.

Her dream would be to make Pamata big and many more food operators to join Pamata night food centre.

She had requested the authorities to provide operators with a canopy as they could not do much when it rains.

“We have to squeeze everything into our stall and it’s very inconvenient for our patrons,” she lamented.

Nurzaharah said she was optimistic that the food centre could flourish with the support of the relevant authorities and the government.

“We were recently given the basic amenities like water and electricity by the council and also a site for non-halal food operators and furthermore, the rentals for stall operators are very affordable,” she pointed out.

She thanked the council for advising them on food handling and safety and also on food business licensing.

“At the moment there are 30 food stalls including drink stalls, and eight are non-halal food stalls.

“We continue to promote our food centre through Facebook especially on the current dishes and menus available,” she revealed.

Pamata opens only for business from Thursday to Sunday, from 3pm to midnight.