Anticipating the signing of a contractual agreement, Geom Luigi Varnero started mobilising for the construction of the 2.5- billion-Br park project that extends from Basha Wolde Chilot to Orma Garage near the Sheraton Addis Hotel, in Addis Abeba.

It is a one kilometre section part of a grand design to revitalise and develop banks and riversides on two rivers crisscrossing in Addis Abeba from Mount Entoto down to Qality. When completed in three years as planned, it will incorporate a total of 56Km and an estimated investment of 29 billion Br, according to city officials.

The Italian construction company was awarded a contract three weeks ago to develop a park that includes roads, playgrounds, sports fields, shops, bicycle paths, walkways and entertainment facilities. It was identified as a pilot project for there is no need to displace residents. The hill was cleared a couple of years ago and leased to companies owned by MIDROC-Ethiopia. The city administration reclaimedthe land a couple of months ago, as part of its drive to reclaim land where construction works have not been started for years.

Instead of leasing the plot for private development, officials at the city administration decided to turn one of the most prime locations in the city to greenery. In a highly publicised event, where Takele Uma, deputy mayor, attended, Varnero was awarded the project, but a contractual agreement remains unsigned with the River Basins & Green Areas Agency, the overseer of the project. However, the contractor started to fence off the construction site early last week and has begun to mobilise its equipment.

As the contractual agreement is required to go through a thorough review, the Agency needed to take more time in preparing the contract, according to Sileshi Degefa (PhD), CEO of the Agency. It is an agency recently formed under the city administration and delegated to oversee six bureaus, including the River & Riverside Development Project Office and Entoto Tourist Destination Development Project Office.

“We wanted the park not to be stalled as the case was with many other mega projects in the country,” Sileshi told Fortune. “Thus, we are taking more time to prepare the [contract] document thoroughly.”

The draft of the contract has been already finalised and sent for reviews to other bureaus such as the Addis Abeba City Roads Authority, managed by Moges Tibebu.

“They`ve asked us for standard documents, and we provide them with it,” Moges, director general of the city’s roads authority, confirmed to Fortune.

However, before being approved and signed, the contract needs to be sent to the Attorney General’s Office for final review, according to Sileshi.

Being left in the dark about all the processes that are going on at the Agency, Varnero has been requesting updates from the Agency but without any success, according to sources familiar with the case. Its senior executives were alarmed by an incident on the site last week, where staff has faced a confrontation with a visiting Chinese contingent led by a person identified as Councillor from the Chinese Embassy. She brought over people from the China Urban Construction Design & Research Institute, sent by China International Development Cooperation Agency, according to people familiar with the process.

“They were on site for a feasibility study as part of their interest to finance the broader project,” Sileshi told Fortune.

The Chinese are among a growing number of bodies eyeing the project from aboard. The Italians and Australians have also shown interest in financing the grand project stretching 56Km, and they have started discussions with the Mayor and the Prime Minister, Sileshi disclosed.