Children wait in line to play in the bouceabout at the Vassell's Christmas Treat held at Pier One, Montego Bay, St James, back in 2009. - File

The owner of popular entertainment venue Pier 1 in Montego Bay, St James, has dispelled allegations that the venue was sold to an anonymous Caucasian buyer. According businessman and owner of the venue, Jason Russell, the allegations are baseless.

"I have heard just like everybody else that a white man came with papers to claim Pier 1, but I haven't seen any white man and I am here every day," he said.

Russell revealed that he was told that the rumour started via Blackberry broadcasts, and the source of the rumour is yet to be traced.

"I did not have no service on my Blackberry at the time so a people call mi and a tell mi. I don't know where it started from and who is behind it, I was just told that it was being broadcast on BBM. As far as I can attest, no white man came here and no police came here to investigate nothing," he said.

Russell expressed that there was no interest to sell the venue, and for the Pier 1 management team, it was business as usual.

"It is amazing to see how something that has no fact can spread so fast. I don't know if this was a prank on me, all I know is what I heard ... people are saying it was a scam, but I haven't seen no white man, for us it is business as usual," he said.

The businessman also rubbished further allegations that local police officers seized the venue since the rumours began to spread.

"They say police seized the premises, and I want to state that it's false. I haven't even reported the matter because I don't have anything to report. A police officer asked me about the rumour once and that was it," he said.

Russell also disclosed that business was not affected by the rumour, adding that any publicity in entertainment is good publicity.

"Everybody has been talking about Pier 1 for the past week or so since the rumour. I have not noted any negative impact in sales, it's the same business ... a man scamming, a white man is doing nothing to harm business for me," he said.

The businessman was not quick to rule out the possibility of a plot by others to defame his business, and he laments that it's not wise to believe everything others say.

"I am not going to rule out competitors, anything is possible in this business. The lesson from this story is that people should not believe everything that they hear, trust me, I learnt from this experience," he said.

The next major event scheduled for Pier 1 is World Clash on April 9, 2012, featuring local and international sound systems.

Jason Russell, general manager of Pier 1.