KUALA LUMPUR (Jun 5): Ekovest Bhd’s joint venture agreement (JVA) with Samling Resources Sdn Bhd to jointly undertake the development and upgrading of the Pan Borneo Highway in the state of Sarawak — Phase 1 for work package contract WPC-02 (Semantan to Sg Moyan Bridge and KSR Interchanges) — with a total contract value of RM2.1 billion, is now void, according to a filing with Bursa Malaysia.

The board of directors at Ekovest announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Ekovest Construction Sdn Bhd (ECSB) has received a letter on June 4 from Samling Resources, informing that Lebuhraya Borneo Utara Sdn Bhd (LBU), the project delivery partner for the project, has not consented for the project to be sub-contracted to Samling-Ekovest JV Sdn Bhd.

“We are reserving our rights in relation to the above matter and are seeking advice and will take all necessary actions as may be required,” the filing with Bursa said.

It added that the latest development will not have any material impact on the operations and financials of the Ekovest Group.

At closing, Ekovest’s share price gained by 2.48% or 1 sen to close at 62 sen with about 17.8 million shares traded, giving it a market capitalisation of RM1.35 billion.