FOR more than 40 years, Leonie Laing has been selling in the Morant Bay market in St Thomas, but despite this, the 61-year-old says the country’s struggling economy is cause for concern as businesses continue to be severely impacted.

The St Thomas native told the Jamaica Observer North and East last Monday that, with the current state of the economy, Jamaicans are frustrated, especially those in the “forgotten parish” of Thomas.

“It’s up and down because nothing is really going on right now on the streets; it’s very hard. The economy is struggling; there is no money,” Laing, who is affectionately called ‘Patsy’ by her peers, said.

The tough-talking Laing argued that what’s worse is the idea that the “Government is not for small business” operators.

“…But we’re still holding on, we have to hold on and have faith to deal with the issues that we are facing right now. Government won’t help. Sometimes you come out here, you don’t sell anything and you still have to come back another day to pay your bills. It’s not easy,” she lamented.

Laing, who sells clothes as well as food in the market, informed that on a good day “you will sell a $3,000 or $4,000”, but for the majority of days, “you make nothing”.

“Right now is everywhere suffering. It’s not one place the badness deh. To make it, you can’t sell one type of goods. I sell clothes and afterwards mi will sell plantain and ripe bananas. So when one good nuh sell, you make up for it with the others. Mi have three stalls,” she said.

She added: “Mi deh here from mi a pickney. Mi grow up at the street side right here, and then mi move and leave go town and come back come show dem seh you can earn legitimately. But it’s not an easy road.

“If the Government invests properly in St Thomas, for example, like the highway dem seh coming, it can help boost the economy and mek business better for people. We are trying, but Government needs to help us.”