IT’S not always the big budget items that matter. Sometimes our people just want to be made to feel some sort of “smaddyfication”, to borrow from the late Professor Rex Nettleford.

That’s just what the United States Embassy in Kingston achieved in erecting a covered section outside the embassy building on Old Hope Road, just above Liguanea, St Andrew.

The 145-foot structure, with six aluminium benches, was erected to provide protection from the elements for members of the public doing business with the embassy and was officially opened last Friday.

At this rate, Ambassador Pamela Bridgewater will soon be a household name here for the many ways in which she has touched the lives of Jamaicans since she began her tenure as ambassador on December 1, 2010, having served before as labour attaché/political officer in Jamaica.

Jamaica can be happy that in these times when we need to rely on our traditional friends, President Barack Obama has ensured that the American ambassador is none other than someone who has enjoyed a celebrated career as a US foreign service officer and whom the embassy proudly says has led diplomatic efforts that helped change the course of world events.

The question could be asked, why was this covered section not added before. We would prefer to say better late than never and to thank Mrs Bridgewater for this considerate action on her part.

We have vivid memories of the bad old days when Jamaicans lined up through cold nights into blazing sun the next day on Oxford Road, near New Kingston, in search of an often elusive visa to the United States.

Even while acknowledging that the Americans did not coerce anyone to seek a visa, it was always our view that our people deserved better treatment. After all, given the large number of Jamaicans seeking visas, the Kingston embassy was either at or near the point where the intake of funds from visa fees was among the highest in the world.

The signficance of Kingston remains, as testified by Mrs Bridgewater herself when in her remarks at the opening she said: “Our Consular section is important to our embassy’s operation. It is, in fact, the hub of our operations.”

The move to Liguanea brought substantial improvements, the erection of a covered section marks a further upliftment. It is a very practical step for both sides, but also a clear sign that the US embassy wants to keep faith with the Jamaican people.

No one says it better than Miss June Martin who watched the opening ceremony from across the road: “I really like what them doing for the people, at least them putting up something to accommodate the people who come to do business with them.”