During a segment of the “What Gets You Vex” broadcast on SVG’s Hot 97.1 FM, host Luke Boyea and his co-hosts delivered a sharp critique of Minister St. Clair Leacock regarding his recent public statements on street vending in Kingstown.
Reacting to a news report titled “Government won’t sacrifice vendors in drive to clean capital, says Leacock,” the hosts argued that the Minister’s rhetoric was detached from physical realities and demonstrated a troubling lack of long-term vision for the working class.
The commentary focused on Minister Leacock’s assertion that vending should never be associated with “unsightliness” or “nastiness” in Kingstown, claiming that linking street vending with untidy appearances was false. In response, the hosts questioned “which planet” the Minister was living on, pointing out the daily reality in the capital: once vendors pack up for the day, heaps of garbage are left behind, alongside broken-down benches utilized as makeshift stalls.
They emphasized that denying these unsanitary conditions ignores what is plainly visible to anyone walking through the market area.
Beyond the factual denial of street clutter, the Hot 97 hosts expressed deeper concern over what they termed “aspiration killing”. They compared Minister Leacock’s attitude to a schoolteacher telling a child who aspires to be a pilot, doctor, or footballer that dreaming is a waste of time.
By framing raw street vending as something noble to preserve in its current state, the hosts argued that politicians are effectively encouraging vendors to settle for the bare minimum under arduous conditions—enduring hot sun, rain, dust, and exhaust fumes while selling off crocus bags on sidewalks where rats run. Leaving citizens to operate under such harsh circumstances, they contended, does not offer them true dignity.
Characterizing the Minister’s stance as “the worst form of politicking,” the hosts stated that romanticizing street struggle reflects a desire to keep people trapped in poverty rather than delivering tangible progress.
Instead of pontificating about the nobleness of sidewalk vending, they insisted that genuine leadership requires constructing proper, protected, and sanitary market facilities. Furthermore, they called on policymakers to champion success stories—highlighting vendors who have successfully transitioned from small street stalls into established brick-and-mortar stores—rather than expecting citizens to remain on the pavement indefinitely.
