Vanuatu's Malvatumauri National Council of Chiefs says it will conduct a "kastom" investigation into the burning down of the Chiefs Nakamal in Port Vila in January.
RNZ Pacific's correspondent in Port Vila Hilaire Bule said said now this process would lead to the guilty party or parties developing a physical ailment to a part of their body which can only be cured if they confess to their crime.
The decision to conduct the traditional investigation was made after council members were told there had been little progress made in a formal police investigation into the fire.
That had been undertaken by both local police with assistance from the Australian Federal Police.
On Friday, the 31 member chiefly council conducted a ceremony in the capital to decommission the burnt down building before a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the construction of a new Chiefs' Nakamal.
Photo credit Vanuatu Daily Post