U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq are now working to reestablish municipal services, and garbage collection is high on the list. But collection in Iraq is a hodgepodge of vehicles, ranging from dump trucks to carts, and workers range from sanitation professionals to day laborers. The Washington Post recently reported from Baghdad that while the United States is working hard to set up garbage collection routes--along with other services such as electricity, sewer, and water--U.S. teams are running into difficulties in managing long-entrenched practices of corruption and exploitation.

The U.S. was forced to hire out locals to handle trash collection, as postwar looting robbed the city of half of its fleet of 1,400 trucks. In order to get collection efforts off the ground, the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority organized private truck owners and local entrepreneurs to create a de facto sanitation crew. The program costs $437,000 a week and employs 20,000 day laborers and truckers to collect 20,000 tons of waste. Drivers and workers earn up to $150 a month.

Trash collection was a priority after the war because of the rising anger over the tide of waste in the streets, which in some neighborhoods reportedly piled up two stories high.

American officials say the coalition effort actually marks the first citywide trash collection in Baghdad's history. Under Saddam, wealthy residents tipped for trash collection and the poor simply didn't receive it. As with so much else in this war, opinions differ, with wealthy Baghdad residents saying the tips were simply to ensure clean curbs, and trash collection was regular. In Sadr City, trash collection was regular, although residents simply dumped their waste in random spots around town.

Prior to the war, Iraqis hauled their waste to enormous landfills, where scavengers sorted through the waste for metal, glass, and other recyclables. But now, most waste is hauled to a landfill outside Baghdad that is apparently safer and has a lower chance of leaching into the water table. Eventually, the occupation forces hope to install waste separation and recycling facilities and create a modern, lined landfill.

The American occupation force is, in effect, privatizing garbage services by hiring locals to handle the collection. Under coalition rules, anyone who fails to make regular pickups, skims salaries, or subcontracts the work will be fired, and in theory, no one younger than 15 is supposed to be collecting waste. But there are already reports of corruption and child labor violations, as well as reports that the U.S. forces are not policing the collectors effectively.