KUALA LUMPUR (June 7): The RM3.74 billion Setiawangsa-Pantai Expressway (SPE) is 13% complete and 3% ahead of schedule, Ekovest Bhd managing director Datuk Seri Lim Keng Cheng said in a Bernama report today.

He added that the 29.8km SPE, previously known as the Duta-Ulu Kelang Expressway (DUKE) Phase-3, will be completed by the first quarter of 2020.

"We (Ekovest) will be able to manage the project within the projected cost because the DUKE highway is a sukuk financial model. We need to give an undertaking that the project will not have cost overrun and will finish on time," Lim was quoted by Bernama as saying.

"So, by hook or by crook, we need to finish the SPE project on time," he added.

The alignment of the SPE, which will traverse north to south of Kuala Lumpur, will serve areas such as University Tunku Abdul Rahman, Wangsa Maju, Setiawangsa, Ampang, the Tun Razak Exchage and Bandar Malaysia development corridor, and Kerinchi.