Two significant promotions have been announced at the country’s largest listed entity on the South Pacific Stock Exchange.
Attar Singh has ascended to the role of chairman at the Pacific’s leading telecommunications holdings company. Alongside him, Tanya Waqanika has been elevated to the position of deputy chairperson on the Amalgamated Telecom Holdings board.
Mr. Attar Singh, who previously served as a board member at ATH, takes over from Dakshesh Patel, who was the acting chairman. Mr. Singh brings a wealth of experience, having served on various boards as both director and chairman.
In his extensive career, Mr. Singh was general secretary of the Council of Trade Unions before running in the 2018 national elections on a National Federation Party ticket. Post-elections, he refrained from returning to union work due to legal restrictions. Currently, he holds the position of assistant national secretary of the Fiji Trades Union Congress (FTUC) and serves as the general secretary for the Fiji Longshoremen and Staff Association.
Additionally, Mr. Singh functions as the industrial relations advisor to the National Union of Municipal Workers and the Fiji Airlines Pilots Association. He is also a member of the National Occupational Safety & Health Advisory and the Employment Relations Advisory boards.
With a robust background in union leadership, 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. His international roles included positions on the Asia Pacific Executive Board (Singapore), Uni Global Union (Geneva), and the International Transport Workers Federation.
Beginning his professional journey as an aircraft engineer in 1978, Mr. Singh earned a private pilot’s license in New Zealand in 1980 and an aircraft maintenance engineer’s license from the Civil Aviation Authority of Fiji in 1983. He transitioned to industrial relations in 1993, advocating for employee rights and welfare.
Amalgamated Telecom’s interests extend across Kiribati, Vanuatu, American Samoa, Samoa, Cook Islands, and Papua New Guinea.
Meanwhile, Ms. Waqanika, a former lawyer for Fiji Television, also contested the most recent national election on a SODELPA ticket.