Capacitate MSU to start full scale tar production

The Midlands State University (MSU) has started test runs at its U$11 million coal tar plant in Zvishavane and full scale production is expected before the end of the year.

The university is working jointly with the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development and the Research Council of Zimbabwe (RCZ).

The tar which is made of crude oil from Hwange coking ovens and recycled chrysotile from Shabanie-Mashava will substitute bitumen which the country is importing. The local product will cost U$0,70 per litre compared to US2,50 per litre which the country is paying for bitumen.

The Zvishavane project is expected to create about 2 500 jobs and reduce the country’s expenditure on imported bitumen by about 40 percent. This is definitely a game changer for the country’s road construction as it will drastically reduce costs.

The coal tar is an environmentally friendly road binder which is expected to substitute the costly imported bitumen once the country starts producing enough quantities to meet demand. The MSU acting marketing and communications director Mr Kudakwashe Bhowa said the tar project was a ground-breaking innovation expected to produce high quality tar using local resources. According to experts, the MSU product addresses environmental and health concerns associated with existing coal tar variations. Preliminary results have shown that the new product is highly resistant to bleeding and cracking and the Department of Roads plans to expand its use to pothole patching.

The MSU, like other institutions of higher learning across the country, has responded to President Mnangagwa’s call for graduates to produce tangible goods and services. President Mnangagwa has said on many fora that students from universities and colleges should no longer pride themselves in having paper qualifications but should be able to produce something tangible which demonstrates knowledge acquired. He has said the education system should adequately empower graduates to be self-sustaining to enable them to contribute to national development.

According to President Mnangagwa, paper qualification can be futile if graduates cannot produce something tangible and as such the nation should not celebrate paper qualification but goods and services produced by graduates. It is therefore pleasing to note that since the adoption of Education 5.0, the country’s universities and colleges are now leading the nation’s industrialisation programme.

The institutions of higher learning are not only churning out graduates that meet societal demands but are also establishing innovation hubs and constructing industrial parks. The National University of Science and Technology (Nust) for example is driving Bulawayo’s re-industrialisation, Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) is doing the same in Mashonaland West province while MSU is also playing a leading role in the Midlands province.

The other universities and colleges across the country are also playing their role in accelerating the country’s industrialisation and this is as it should be.

We want at this juncture to implore Government to ensure MSU has all the required resources to enable it to start full scale production of the tar so that the country can accelerate its roads construction and rehabilitation programme.