SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — As steady rainfall forced classes online and left commuters stranded in sections of the parish on Wednesday, the Member of Parliament for Westmoreland Central and the man who once had his job traded barbs on social media.

“Under mi knee water deh this morning,” Nastacia Carey, a resident of Three Miles River, told the Jamaica Observer. “Mi couldn’t leave mi house.”

In addition to her neighbourhood, flooding was also reported in Russia, Smith Field, Delveland and other communities. Meanwhile, Manning’s, Frome Technical High, Savanna-la-Mar Primary and Loving Care Christian Academy were on the list of schools that closed their doors to ensure students’ safety.

Former Member of Parliament for Central Westmoreland Dwayne Vaz, who was elected on a People’s National Party ticket, blamed the current MP George Wright for the flooding. In a Facebook post, he said Wright, who was elected on a Jamaica Labour Party ticket but is now an independent, failed to have the drains cleaned in a timely manner. Vaz said he had also asked the National Works Agency to clean the Bath and Three Miles River waterways to avoid flooding during the rainy season, but to no avail.

“Why is the MP waiting on post-Beryl money to clean these drains when he got money for disaster mitigation from before the hurricane season to clean these same drains?” Vaz asked.

He maintained that he has spoken of the need for drain cleaning in June, July and on August 23.

“Look at what has happened this morning. Yards were flooded, and if the rains continue today, rest assured that these houses will be flooded,” Vaz warned.

MP Wright also took to Facebook to get his message across. He assured his audience that he is working to fix the problem.

“To the residents of Three Miles River and all motorists traversing this area, I can assure you, as your Member of Parliament, funding has been allocated to clean the river, so in short order work will commence,” he said.

Unimpressed, Vaz hammered home his point that work should have been done before.

“It is inexcusable what is happening today, and we sympathise with the residents of Three Miles River and Bath,” he said.

When contacted by the Jamaica Observer, Wright said the allocated funds were not enough to do the intensive drain cleaning required at the time. He also hinted that Vaz was unaware of what is happening on the ground.

“The last time the drain was cleaned intensively we did it about two or more years ago,” he said. “We had several heavy rainfalls since then. I got $1 million for drain cleaning; that was not enough to do intensive cleaning. We have started cleaning drains right across the constituency, from Hertford to Grange, along the George’s Plain main road, from Ferris to Maxfield, Paradise main roads, Llandilo main roads. He needs to drive across the constituency to see for himself.”

Wright said additional funds have now been allocated for drain cleaning, which the National Works Agency will do across Central Westmoreland.

“What Westmoreland is lacking right now is a proper drainage system,” the MP stated. “We have U-drains now… but we really need concrete drains.”

The rain was still falling steadily in Savanna-la-Mar up to early afternoon, the results of the outer bands of Hurricane Helen which formed over the north-western Caribbean on Tuesday.