Singh joins FRU board

07:48 Yesterday (May 20, 2013)
Report by: FRU

The Prime Minister’s nominee and Permanent Secretary for Finance, Mr Filimone Waqabaca has been appointed Chairman of the newly elected Fiji Rugby Union Board.

Waqabaca is also Chairman of Air Terminal Services, and a Board member of the Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority, the Reserve Bank of Fiji and Fijian Holdings Limited. He is also a member of University of the South Pacific Council, National Disaster Management Council, National Employment Centre, Fiji National University, National Housing Council and the National Financial Inclusion Taskforce.

Waqabaca holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics and Management from the University of the South Pacific and a Masters of Science in International Banking and Finance from the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom.

Four new board members were elected at the FRU AGM on 27 April in Suva.

They are:
Dr Esther Williams, the Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of the South Pacific. She attended school in Fiji and obtained her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand, PGDipl in Library and Information Studies from the University of Canberra, and her Ph.D from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. Her Ph.D was in Government. Her research interests are in ICT curriculum and education, national political elections, environmental issues and telecommunications policy.
She has published two books and numerous articles in the areas of information, communication, libraries, gender and elections.

Mosese Taga a former Flying Fijian captain debuted for Fiji in 1987 at the Test Match against New Zealand in Christchurch. He earned 31 caps from 79 games for Fiji. He also captained Fiji to the 1991 Rugby World Cup and is currently the Customer Care Manager at the Bank of South Pacific.

Filimone Vatuvoka a secondary school teacher by profession obtained his Bachelor of Education from the University of the South Pacific in 1982. He was the coach for the Queen Victoria School Under 19 team that won the Deans trophy four years in a row from 1996 to 1999.

In 2005 Vatuvoka was the assistant coach for the Suva Highlanders franchise team that won the Colonial cup. He has been the school Principal for several secondary schools including QVS and Tailevu North College. He is currently the Principal at Ratu Sukuna Memorial School.

Daniel Whippy is the Managing Director for the Carpenters Group in Fiji and oversees the Group’s trading and operations in Fiji including Carpenters Finance, Carpenters Hardware, Carpenters Motors and Carpenters Shipping. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from the University of the South Pacific.

Whippy started working for the Group at 16 and after five years with MH Motors was transferred to work at the Accounts section.

The company then sponsored him to pursue a Degree at USP. He completed his Degree and was awarded the Young Accountant of the Year Award in 1993. Whippy has also served on numerous government Boards.

Carl Ngamoki-Cameron was re-elected as the new Director Legal and is a commercial lawyer by profession, and a graduate from the University of Auckland and Otago. He currently holds several Board appointments and is a member of numerous professional organizations in Fiji and New Zealand, the notable ones include; the Institute of Directors in New Zealand, NZ Law Society, Arbitration & Mediation Institute of New Zealand. He is also the President of Fiji-New Zealand Business Council, a Board Member of the Fiji Public Trustee Corporation Limited and a Trustee for the Houpoto Te Pua Maori Forestry Trust (NZ).

Napolioni Batimala remains the Director Finance and is a chartered accountant by profession. He possesses the required knowledge and skills in financial analysis and business modeling and business valuation. Batimala commenced his career as an employee in the Reserve Bank of Fiji’s Exchange Control Department in 1998. From 1999 to 2000, he worked in various sections of the Ministry of Finance and this included the Financial Management Reform and Information Systems, Budget and Financial Management & Audit before joining PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2000.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Accounting and Financial Management and Information Systems from the University of the South Pacific. He also holds a Graduate Certificate in Applied Finance and Investment from the University of New South Wales and is a Senior Associate of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia. He is currently the General Manager for Merchant Finance.

Also taking his place on the Board is trustees’ nominee and businessman Baljeet Singh better known as Billy Singh. He is the Managing Director for Kundan Singh and Sons Ltd on Princess Road, Tamavua.

Singh is a former Marist Brothers High School student that also studied at the Nanaimo College in British Columbia. He studied Business Management at the Capilano College in Vancouver and WUT in Wellington and was attached with the Marketing and Operations department for BP Oil (NZ) Ltd in 1987.

Kundan Singh’s business activities include working with food retailers and supermarkets. Singh currently runs two supermarkets and six service stations as well as a bread shop around the country. “Billy” is also the Captain of the Fiji Golf Club.

Ratu Isikeli Tasere remains the President of the FRU.

Only one place remains on the board as the Trustees are yet to submit their final nominee which will complete the newly elected 2012 FRU board.