The writer of the letter is Mr. Alban Redhead, a Grenadian who has lived for a number of years in the United States and came back to invest substantially in the south of the island.
This newspaper is not defending our so-called media magnate, Errol Maitland who is obviously prepared to "play the game" with whoever is in power apparently for "financial gains".

However, if attacks are made on the media that has an historical role to bring information that are vital to the public's interest then we have a responsibility even beyond the call of duty to jump to the defense of the press.

The incident which Mr. Redhead is addressing clearly speaks to the attempts being made by the Keith Mitchell-led government either directly or through its agents and surrogates to try and get the media to tow the line or face the consequences.

The letter reads:

"First of all, I would like to thank Mr. (Errol) Maitland and his staff at MTV for covering the events that occurred at my home in True Blue on September 20, 2006.

On that morning, a tractor working on a neighboring site deliberately drove across and demolished my fence. This site is being privately developed by Mr. Patrick Antoine & his company.

At no point was I officially notified of this impending action. I was personally interviewed & the facts as observed were later reported on the news. Despite vehement community opposition, Mr. Patrick Antoine and his company are in the process of developing the land in a manner that will have the result of extensively limiting the public use of Mace Beach.

Secondly, I would like to express my sincere regret to Mr. Maitland and his staff for what they have endured as a result of covering this event. I was disheartened to learn that Mr. Maitland was summoned to the Prime Minister Office where he was threatened with legal action and forced to apologize to Mr. Antoine and his father regarding the coverage of this matter.

If Messrs Antoine wanted to present their side of the events, they should have personally approached the media and not attempt to intimidate Mr. Maitland by dragging him into the PM's office. To the best of my knowledge, this matter involves Mr. Antoine, his company & me. What is the Government of Grenada's role in this? Perhaps further investigation is warranted.

Is Grenada a democracy where everyone is able to voice their opinion as they see it being necessary and within the law; or is it a country where its honest citizens are afraid to speak out?"

GRENADA TODAY wish to repeat one of the salient points raised by Mr. Redhead in the letter and that is: "To the best of my knowledge, this matter involves Mr. Antoine, his company & me. What is the Government of Grenada's role in this? Perhaps further investigation is warranted".

This question is important in light of more than credible reports reaching our News Desk about the role that was played not only by Dr. Patrick Antoine but the Press Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Barry Collymore of Barbados in summoning Mr. Maitland to the Ministerial Complex last week Friday for another tongue-lashing.

How come Mr. Collymore is using the facilities of the government to get involved in such an issue of a private nature that could end up in the law courts? Who instructed him to do what he did? Furthermore, the behaviour of our so-called but arrogant Ambassador, Dr. Patrick Antoine needs to be looked at in light of reports concerning his role in "seizing" the MTV tape after viewing the interview with Mr. Redhead.

If Dr. Antoine did urge the people at MTV to call in the police after he took possession of the tape then the invitation should have been accepted.

We are sure that Mr. Maitland would have given the so-called Ambassador equal or more time if he so required or demanded in order to rebut the allegations made against him by Mr. Redhead.

But Dr. Antoine, true to form, displayed his arrogance and contempt that is clearly not befitting of anyone chosen to represent a decent government. The press in Grenada must never allow itself to be cowed into submission by the likes of Patrick Antoine and Barry Collymore but stand up always in defense of the independence of press freedom.

Perhaps, time and history have caught up with Mr. Maitland but the fact remains that tomorrow the heat can be on another media house in order to beat them into submission by the powers-that-be either directly or through their agents.

An independent integrity commission needs to be set up badly in this country to dig deep into some of the major land deals involving the said Dr. Patrick Antoine under this NNP government.