Clement Paligaru: I'm in Honiara, the capital of Solomon Islands, where people flock from outer provinces to find work and opportunity. But often they struggle to make it in the big city. And their absence can suck the life from the towns and villages they've left.

Clement Paligaru: Noro is one town in Solomon Islands which prides itself on being a place where people want to live.

Jennifer Napoleon, Noro resident: I live in Noro because Noro is so lively and I also admire Noro very much because life was not expensive here.

Trevor Veo, Noro resident: Back in Honiara, at the same time you go out from your doorstep, you spend a dollar - in bus fares and everything.

Clement Paligaru: Noro is in the Western Province - the largest of the country's provinces. It's more than 350 kilometres away from the national capital, on another island.

Trevor Veo: I was in Honiara in early 2004 and we were just looking for jobs. But things not working well so, since my parents were here, I decided OK, I'd better go back to Noro.

Clement Paligaru: What makes this town different from others in Solomon Islands is a large tuna factory. It's Noro's biggest employer by far.

Aseri Kukui, Soltai Fishing and Processing Ltd: This is the biggest processing plant in the Solomon Islands. In terms of tuna, it's the only one. So, yes, it's a major player in the economy of Solomon Islands.

Thomas Dorku - Soltai general manager: In today's world, unemployment everywhere is a problem. And in scattered islands like this, jobs can be hard to find.

Jennifer Napoleon: It's important for me to work here. For myself and also my family. It is very important for me because I can help them in many ways such as school fees.

Mary Saraqona - factory worker: I need to work here because I need to help my mothers and some of my extension relatives.

Clement Paligaru: The tuna processing plant began its operations in Noro in 1979. Over two decades, the town's port grew, becoming the second biggest in Solomon Islands, as a result of the factory's expanding operations.

Jennifer Napoleon: I am proud about Western Province because we have so many industrial factories like Soltai, more than any other places such as Honiara have.

Clement Paligaru: It's this employee pride which prevented the plant from shutting down completely during the ethnic tensions which brought much of the country to a standstill between 1999 and 2001.

Aseri Kukui: Because we had fish in the storage, the people who remained to look after the place started by themselves - without any government support or anything - they started processing the fish they had. And they slowly rolled the fishing boats back into the sea, bringing the fish. That's how we started until now Soltai is back which is very very pleasing.

Clement Paligaru: When the owners of the cannery decided pull out of the country in 2001, the Western Province government took ownership of the operation, in partnership with a Japanese company. Hundreds of additional jobs were created under the new management and its plans to modernise.

Thomas Dorku: I came in as part of the restructuring to revive the company and show that there's job security and profitability and sustenance of the community.

Ishmael Kuvi - Noro town president: Now we have the Telecom company here. We have the electric authority here; we have the water authority here. We have business houses here. We have the international seaport here.

They earn money from the factory, then when they come to the market, they get what they need in the market. So the people in the village they also have assistance from this factory.

Thomas Dorku: The markets, the shops, the business all depend on the income that is generated from this plant. And that's a driving force in the economy.

Ishmael Kuvi: My vision for Noro is to develop Noro to become one of the best and model town in the country.

Clement Paligaru: There are close to 1000 people who work at this cannery and they're not just from Noro town or Western Province. They come from villages and towns in provinces all over the country

Aseri Kukui: In the processing plant, we think the women are better with their hand, you know, they're more gentle and they concentrate longer in the work, in the processing plant. So in terms of gender, we are employing 80% women here. So the people in the Western Province and the Solomons for the whole, they want to come and work here.

Mary Saraqona: The Western Province and the Eastern and the Central Islands, all of us here in Solomons, we come here together. That's better for us here in Solomons.

Ishmael Kuvi: Although we have different cultures but we maintain, we put things together in a manner so that people are working in Noro peacefully.

Clement Paligaru: For many, Noro doesn't just provide work - it also gives them their preferred lifestyle and culture.

Trevor Veo: I spend more time with my family here in Noro. Like in Honiara - if after work, people would have to spend more time looking for transport going back to their families. Like here we just finish work, we go straight to the home. So we quickly spend time with the family. So it's good for me to raise my family in Noro - better than going to Honiara and stay there and raise a family.

Clement Paligaru: But few take their lifestyles and jobs at the cannery for granted. While the company has stayed in operation for more than three decades, the challenges are mounting.

Thomas Dorku: It's not only away from the capital, it's away from the industry. The location of Noro is a difficult one. Apart from fish, which we have abundance, here, nearly everything is imported: all the packaging materials, equipment, supplies are imported, which adds a very high cost to the operation.

Clement Paligaru: What's the future of a place which can't meet the challenges of those logistics?

Thomas Dorku: Well it's obviously going to crash and when it crashes, people's livelihoods are at stake.

Hilda Blaze - factory worker: If this company no, I don't know where people brings money for family to help the family, I don't know.

Ishmael Kuvi: If anything happens to Noro especially the companies - if they shut down, it will be a disaster for Noro. And I am sad if it is like that. But I hope it will not be like that - the company will grow.

In my view, there is a potential for the people. And I believe for the next 5-10 years, - Noro will be bigger. It will grow.

Trevor Veo: I won't leave Noro, I will just stay here. We have social relationship with the people here. My parents is here. I think I will treat Noro as my home.