Businesswoman plans on building cooking area to help women

A LOCAL businesswomen in partnership with Puma Energy will build a cooking area at the Gordon market to help women with their small businesses.
Agnes Piel started selling ice blocks at the Gordon Market more than two decades ago and is now one of Puma Energy’s leading gas distributors in the National Capital District.
The Western Highlander is the director of Six Crowns Ltd trading as Taurama Gas Distributors.
The proposed kitchen that will be built at Gordon market will be called the Puma Gas Haus Kuk.
It will have a kitchen and bench for mothers to cook using Puma gas and stoves and service walk-in customers.
Piel and Puma, in a joint venture, would build the cooking area for mothers to cook food and sell at the Gordon Market food court.
She distributes the 4.5kg, 13kg and 45kg Puma gas bottles to resellers in Port Moresby and even Central.
She has about 150 resellers in total.
“I have 70 to 80 resellers for the 4.5kg and 13kg gas bottles which are mainly for domestic households and then the rest are the 45kg gas bottles for hotels, kai bars and restaurants,” she said.
Piel has been distributing gas bottles since 2017.
“Puma Gas is our own gas, it is PNG made from the Napa Napa refinery and we must support PNG made products,” she said.
Piel said the National Capital District Commission were assessing the final design of the food court and would her soon.
The Gordon Market initiative is between Puma Energy Ltd through Taurama Gas Distributors and NCDC to support the Gordon Market Informal Sector Umbrella Association.
“We are planning to do the kitchen for the mothers and I go around and try to encourage them to do those little businesses, from cooking and then you go to another business and from that you try to go to the next level, like for myself.
“I was selling ice block at Gordon Market, so I go back to Gordon Market to encourage the mothers that if I can do it, they can do it too,” Piel said.
“I want to support them to build a kitchen there and then they can use the Puma Gas and continue to do their business to pay school fees for their children and put food on the table.”