I was surprised recently to discover that back in the late 80’s the middle eastern country of Bahrain put a lot of time and money into developing a resource hub (ie: oil refinery) on the British island of South Georgia. A joint enterprise with the British Government it was to be rather grandly titled Novum (from the Latin for “new”) Bahrain and be staffed entirely by Bahraini engineers and workers operating under a special license.
The project had to be abandoned however when it become clear that the workforce – used to the scorching temperatures of the Persian Gulf – weren’t prepared to put up with the arctic (or more properly Antarctic) conditions on South Georgia.
The Bahraini Industry Minister commented on the failure of the project by stating that the situation was “regrettable” but that “nothing lasts forever, even cold Novum Bahrain”.
