Two promotions have been announced at the largest listed entity on the South Pacific Stock Exchange.
Attar Singh now leads the Pacific’s main telecommunications holdings company as chairman.
Tanya Waqanika has been promoted to deputy chairperson on the Amalgamated Telecom Holdings board.
Mr. Attar Singh, previously a board member at ATH, replaced Dakshesh Patel, who was acting chairman. Mr. Singh has served on various boards as a director or chairman.
He was the general secretary of the Council of Trade Unions before contesting the national elections in 2018 on a National Federation Party ticket. At that time, he stated that he would not return to union work as it was not permitted by law.
Currently, Mr. Singh is the assistant national secretary for the Fiji Trades Union Congress (FTUC) and the general secretary for the Fiji Longshoremen and Staff Association. He also serves as the industrial relations advisor to the National Union of Municipal Workers and Fiji Airlines Pilots Association.
He is a member of the National Occupational Safety & Health Advisory and the Employment Relations Advisory boards. Mr. Singh was the general secretary of the Fiji Islands Council of Trade Unions for over 15 years and the president of the Fiji Cane Growers Association for 17 years.
Internationally, he has held positions on the Asia Pacific Executive Board (Singapore), Uni Global Union (Geneva), and the International Transport Workers Federation.
Mr. Singh began his professional career as an aircraft engineer in 1978. He obtained a private pilot’s license in New Zealand in 1980 and an aircraft maintenance engineer’s license in 1983 from the Civil Aviation Authority of Fiji. He transitioned to a career in industrial relations in 1993, advocating for employee rights and welfare.
Amalgamated Telecom has business interests spanning Kiribati, Vanuatu, American Samoa, Samoa, Cook Islands, and Papua New Guinea.
Meanwhile, Ms. Waqanika, a former lawyer for Fiji Television, contested the last national election on a SODELPA ticket.