The Penang government has put on hold any activities pertaining to the set-up of the state's voluntary patrol body (or BPS) last Wednesday.

State executive councillor Phee Boon Poh, who oversees the body, said the decision was made at the state executive council meeting chaired by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

He added that the decision to freeze the body's activities was also based on the advice of the police

"All new BPS appointments and activities for the year 2017/2018 are put on hold until we resolve the issues related to the formation of the body," Phee told Malaysiakini.

"In the meantime, we are appealing our case and will negotiate with the Home Ministry, we are confident about successfully resolving the matter," added the DAP Sungai Puyu assemblyperson.

He was responding to the advice by inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar who asked the state government to disband the voluntary body.

Failure to do so would result in police action, said Khalid.

He described the group as unlawful as it was not registered with the Registrar of Societies.

Khalid assured that the police was capable of maintaining peace and security in Penang and Malaysia.

He urged BPS members to join the police's various community policing groups which were open to all citizens.

The new BPS, launched in November, was to replace the outlawed Pasukan Peronda Sukarela (PPS), which was disbanded in November 2014.

This time, the body, which would be focused on community and disaster relief work, was supposed to operate under the Village Development and Security Committees (JKKKs).

However, the Home Ministry ruled that since the group was not registered with ROS, its activities were "illegal" but this status was challenged by the Penang government in court.

Last month, PPS failed to obtain a judicial review to challenge the federal minister's decision that the unit was illegal.