Lim to work on reviving PPS

GEORGE TOWN: Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng will work to seek for a speedy reinstatement of Penang's Voluntary Patrol Team (PPS) to help the state provide security, safety and assistance when natural disasters occur.
He said that he plans to write to the authorities for the reinstatement as an appellate court had earlier declared that the organisation was lawful as it was set up fully under the purview of the state government.
"This shows the move to ban PPS was unnecessary," Lim told a press conference here today.
Also present was state DAP secretary Lim Hui Ling, Jelutong MP R. S. N. Rayer and state executive councillor Phee Boon Poh, who is the PPS adviser.
Phee said the PPS members are keen to serve in Penang, especially when their presence can make a difference when it floods.
PPS is popular among the people here as it is a service-orientated organisation that cares about helping people, said Phee.
Controversy over PPS arose when a 51-year-old man alleged that PPS members had attacked him.
The federal government decided to clamp down on the PPS.
It culminated in the arrest of 200 PPS members during the Merdeka parade in Penang in 2016.
But now with Pakatan Harapan firmly in charge of the federal government, there is optimism that the PPS can be revived.