KUALA LUMPUR (July 19): Shares of Ekovest Bhd rose 4.27% in active trade this morning after the company said the government will trade land with Ekovest in return for rehabilitation works undertaken by the property developer on the first 2.2km of a 10km stretch of the Gombak river under the Kuala Lumpur River City (KLRC) project.

At 9.03am, Ekovest rose 5 sen to RM1.22 with 5.96 million shares done.

Under the deal, Ekovest will get 30 acres (12.14ha) of land within the KLRC development, said Ekovest managing director Datuk Seri Lim Keng Cheng.

“With the land swap package, we can generate over RM9 billion in GDV (from the 30-acre land), which is 10 times the cost of the land given to us,” Ekovest’s managing director Datuk Sri Lim Keng Cheng told reporters after the launch of the KLRC project yesterday.

Ekovest will undertake construction works of the non-mechanical Gombak River Enhancement And Tunnel (GREAT) system for the 2.2km portion, for which it is investing RM950 million in development cost. It expects the project to be completed in two and a half years.