From rags to riches
The National- Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Story and picture by EVAH KUAMIN
DEVELOPMENT should be enforced at the ward level through small business enterprises, a local businessman in East New Britain said.
Benson Buana, owner of a rag distribution business and a major supplier of New Guinea Islands Produce (NGIP) Agmark group of companies in Kokopo, said any person could go into business if they had the drive and utilise well all their resources.
Buana, from Navunaram village, has been a businessman for more than 10 years.
He said it was also important that the government and other relevant stakeholders must provide training and support at the village level.
Benson began his operations in 1992 as a distributor, retailer and agent for SP Brewery.
He then ventured into retailing second-hand clothes in Kokopo and Rabaul and now the rags business.
Buana also has a poultry farm, more than 10,000 Arabica and Robusta coffee trees and a variety of plants, flowers and fruit trees.
He also planned to build a tourist hamlet on a 3ha piece of land adjacent to the family home.