Highlighting The Difference In The Data On The Manifest Passengers Of KM Barcelona, Commission V Of The DPR Will Investigate And Call The Minister Of Transportation Tomorrow

Chairman of Commission V DPR Lasarus. (Nailin-VOI)

JAKARTA - Chairman of Commission V DPR Lasarus highlighted the difference in the data on the passenger manifest of the motorboat or KM Barcelona 5 which caught fire in the waters of Talise Island, North Minahasa, North Sulawesi (North Sulawesi). Lasarus stated that his party would conduct an investigation regarding the difference of 300 passengers between the manifest and the victim after the evacuation.

This was conveyed by Lasarus after direct contact with the Director General of the Sea of the Ministry of Transportation regarding the KM Barcelona fire.

"I had direct contact with Basarnas, so that the rescue operation was maximized and it had been carried out. Earlier, I also updated with the Director General of Sea, also updated with the Head of Basarnas. Indeed, there were findings that surprised us all, that the public already knew that the manifest was 280, but after this evacuation effort it was found that there were 580 (passengers)," said Lasarus at the Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, Tuesday (22/7/2025).

"It means that there are 300 differences between the manifest and the passengers on the ship. We will investigate this later, yes, why could this happen. Because this has something to do with taxes, of course there is also an insurance issue, then the guarantee of passenger rights and so on," he continued.

Nevertheless, Lasarus said Commission V of the DPR would summon the Minister of Transportation, Dudy Purwagandhi, for a meeting at the DPR tomorrow. His party wants to ask for a more detailed explanation regarding the chronology of the fire to the process of rescuing and evacuating passengers.

"This may not be answered right now, we will call the Minister of Transportation later, why can the ship sail with this condition? How is this KSOP? The ship should be cleared first, there is sufficient supervision, so that when this ship sailed it was not only from the technical side of the ship, it had to be done ram check, then how long did it have to ride the dock, and other things related to safety," he explained.

"Then from the 280 found 580 who were rescued, how is this life jacket and so on, we don't know this yet," added Lasarus.

The PDIP legislator from West Kalimantan 2 is grateful that the unfortunate incident occurred during the day. If it is at night, according to him, it will definitely be more terrible.

"The passengers on the 280 manifest, who were found, were 580, 300 different, then I received information earlier, it was certain that three died. Two are in critical condition, hopefully these critical ones can be saved, maybe that's the initial information we can provide," said Lasarus.

Lasarus said he had coordinated with the head of the NTSC to request that the investigation of KM Barcelona be accelerated.

"Because it is related to the cause of this accident, there is a possibility that this ship exceeds the cargo or not, and so on. This is part of the task of the NTSC," he said.

"Of course we are waiting, we will summon the Minister of Transportation in the near future, this week we will make sure, because coincidentally we also have business with the budget that has been completed, maybe this week we will call the Minister of Transportation. Regarding clarification, related to the incident of the Barcelona 5 ship in the Minahasa Sea," he continued.

Since the council will resume its recess and close the trial period this Thursday, Lasarus said it would schedule a meeting with the Ministry of Transportation soon.

"I am coordinating this, we have just finished the meeting, the budget, because I have to fulfill this budget schedule, because there is a timeline from the budget agency, we also have to finish it, maybe tomorrow, maybe tomorrow. We may call tomorrow, we will see the readiness of the Minister in which position," he said.

"I haven't connected (to contact) this yet, hopefully there will be a Minister, tomorrow we can have a meeting. At least if not with the Minister, tomorrow we will call the Director General of Marine Affairs, if for example there is no Minister," concluded Lasarus.