PM BAINIMARAMA
HEARS OF SEAWEED OIL POWERS
Oil made out of seaweed (wakame) has special powers after it was revealed that it could cure skin diseases. Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama was informed about this during the talanoa session after the commissioning of the KabaKiuva Peninsula Road last week.
The representative of the Dromuna Village Women’s Group, Arieta Radio, requested for a resource centre to produce by-products from seaweed.
She said the group was planting seaweed (wakame) and making nine by-products from it. Members are processing the oil manually because there are no machines.
“Our product is yet to be recognised by the Ministry of Health, but we have proven that seaweed oil is effective in curing skin diseases,” Mrs Radio said..
“There were two children from this village with ringworm and had returned from Toomey Hospital, but it was not cured.
“So we applied oil made out of seaweed and it was completely healed leaving the skin spotless.” She said the group needed a resource centre for the production of the by-products, otherwise they had to travel to Suva and manually process the bio products and bring them back to the village.
“This is too costly for us,” she said.
The nine products are: oil, jam, shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, cleanser, gumby bear sweetener, kimchi and juice.
Wakame, Undaria pinnatifida, is a species of edible seaweed, a type of marine algae, and a sea vegetable. It has a subtly sweet, but distinctive and strong flavour and texture.
It is most often served in soups and salads. Sea farmers in Japan have grown wakame since the Nara period.