The Cayman Islands at the British government campaigned unsuccessfully at the latest Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) meeting in the Chilean capital, Santiago, to raise the ban on the trade of green turtle shell products from the Cayman Turtle Farm. Environmentalists lobbying against the move were concerned that any trade would encourage an illicit market that could have a devastating impact on wild turtle populations. There was also some concerns about the farm's high mortality rate, poor water quality, overcrowded pools, and the inability of the Cayman Islands to demonstrate that all of the farm's original green turtle stock was legally sourced. <br><br>Cayman Airways has announced that it will start flying to Havana, Cuba from the beginning of December 2002. Flights will depart Cayman on Friday's and Sunday's, with the return leg on the same days. Further details are available from the Cayman Airways website at http://www.caymanairways.com/.<br>Continental Airways are seeking approval to fly from Houston to Grand Cayman. If successful, they will fly on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, starting in May 2003. <br><br>The concessions announced last November on stamp duty on land purchases are to be extended another six months, in the hope that these measures will help boost the local economy. <br><br>The Monetary Authority has announced that a new CI$50 bill will be introduced next year. The current bill is sometimes confused for the CI$1 bill because of their similar colour scheme. The new bill will have a new colour scheme, but the new design hasn't yet been agreed. <br><br>The Chairman of the Immigration Board recently announced that following a review of permanent residency issues, permanent residences will now be allowed to add their dependent spouses to their permanent residency status. For further details see the press release at http://www.gov.ky/pls/portal30/docs/Folder/SITE83/PRESSRELEASES/200211PRESSRELEASES/PERESADSPOU.PDF. <br><br><br>If you would like to receive a monthly newsletter with the latest news from Cayman, and links to new Cayman-related sites that have been added to the GoToCayman.com web site, please send an e-mail to newsletter@gotocayman.com