Govt urged to defer voluntary body
REBRANDING: PAP challenges the law because predecessor has yet to be accepted
THE establishment of the Penang Voluntary Patrol Body (BPS), a rebranding of the former Penang Voluntary Patrol (PPS), must be deferred because they are similar and the latter has been deemed illegal.
The matter was raised by the People’s Alternative Party (PAP), which also called on the Federal Government to order the state government to put the BPS formation on ice.
PAP president Zulkifli Mohd
Noor urged the Home Ministry and Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar to act against quarters behind the BPS formation.
“The BPS formation cannot be allowed to happen because the state government is appealing a court decision against PPS. It is an act of challenging the law because the police have yet to comment if they will accept BPS or not.
“The state government must defer the formation of BPS until the appeal against its predecessor, PPS, is settled,” he said yesterday.
Zulkifli said BPS should not be allowed to operate, and cited Penang High Court’s decision to uphold the Home Ministry’s declaration last Tuesday that PPS formed by the state government was illegal.
High Court judge Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail said the Home Ministry had the right to make the declaration and was correct in declaring PPS as unlawful.
She said the declaration was within the discretion of the home minister and that he did not need to explain the decision, adding that the Penang government was wrong in having the PPS as a substitute for the police, especially as the unit was performing police duties and had ranks, which were unlawful.
State Environment, Welfare and Caring Society Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh had said the state government would appeal against the court’s decision.
State police chief Datuk Abdul Ghafar Rajab told the New Sunday Times that his unit had been gathering facts about the BPS formation for Khalid.
“We are compiling information on BPS to hand over to the federal police headquarters.”
The controversial PPS, which was outlawed by the Federal Government in 2014, made a comeback earlier this month under a new brand name, BPS.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said BPS was aimed at creating a safe neighbourhood. It was formed under the Village Security, Safety and Development Committee (JKKK) and there were no ranks for members in the body.
He said he would explain the formation of BPS under the JKKK to Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed, who told the state government to register its newlyformed BPS with the ministry.