WESTERN BUREAU:

In a move being hailed as philanthropic, Sandals chairman, Gordon 'Butch' Stewart, is giving one-week all-inclusive vacations to the passengers who were held hostage by an armed hijacker on CanJet Boeing 737 on Sunday night.

For more than half an hour, some 160 Canadian tourists were held captive on board the North American charter flight which was scheduled to depart the Sangster International Airport for Halifax, via Cuba.

After their ordeal, the tourists were accommodated at the Sunset Beach Resort and Spa and Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort at the expense of the Jamaican Government. However, Stewart, who is known for giving altruistic service, placed the notch several inches upwards when he announced that the visitors could return to Jamaica at a time of their convenience and based on space availability.

"There was genuine need to put something on the table that would leave a smile," said Wayne Cummings, Sandals Resorts International director for business processes and administration.