"Flying by the seat of its pants," was how Liberal Leader Arthur Mitchell described the Yukon government's approach to building the new $67-million correctional centre Tuesday.

"(It's) been less than co-operative with releasing information about this building and it's becoming obvious why that is," Mitchell said during question period. "The government appears to be simply making it up as it goes along."

Monday, Department of Justice officials held a "technical briefing" on the new jail for the media. While officials boasted the planned replacement for the Whitehorse Correctional Centre will be a harmonious environment for both inmates and employees, final designs are non-existent.

According to Justice Minister Marian Horne, this will not delay the project.

"We plan to proceed with construction while the design is still underway," said Horne. "It will be built in stages."

But this is what got the Department of Highways and Public Works into hot water with federal Auditor General Sheila Fraser two years ago, countered Mitchell.

"It's obvious the government has not yet learned anything from the auditor's report because they keep making the same mistakes over and over again," he said.

In February 2007, Fraser reported several problems with how the department managed construction projects, some of which caused final costs to spiral beyond original estimates.

"In five cases, we observed changes in scope and design imposed by client departments during project delivery, resulting in both cost increases and delays," wrote Fraser.

Mitchell said the government is heading down the same road with the new jail, but Public Works Minister Archie Lang disagreed, referring to the new jail - expected to open for business in 2012 - as a "success story."

"(Mitchell) is wrong; we are working toward the structure itself and that will be done in an organized fashion within the public works," said Lang. "We look forward to the end results."

But without final designs, nobody knows what those end results will be, nor how much it will cost, said Mitchell, who accused Lang of "being irresponsible with taxpayers' money."

"The Auditor General flagged this issue two years ago and told the government to fix the way it manages construction projects," said Mitchell. "(But it's) ignoring that advice and setting taxpayers up for huge cost overruns."

The government budgeted $21.6 million for the project this year, but its final $67 million estimate is more than double the original $24 million- to $30-million the former Liberal government of Pat Duncan planned to spend in 2002.

While Mitchell believes spending on the new jail will easily exceed $70 million, Premier Dennis Fentie tried to blame Duncan's Liberals for the current build-as-we-go approach.

"The much-vaunted warehouse/jail that the former Liberal government was going to build is actually a pile of dirt sitting on the property," said Fentie.

"...So what (this) project has managed to accomplish is to not lose that expense ... (but) incorporate that into the project itself."