Broken perl configuration

[Bruce Miller]

Hello folks;
   I'm new here, and actually only seldom a mac user,
but I do develop software that colleagues run
  -- or used to run on -- a mac.

The software uses the standard Makefile.PL/ MakeMaker
set up to build & install the executable scripts in a standard
place.  That is, it NOWHERE indicates which directory to install
to, it installs wherever the perl installation says to.
Until recently that was /opt/local/bin, which is in
most mac user's, or at least most macports user's, $PATH.

With MacPort's perl 5.12, the executable is installed in
   /opt/local/libexec/perl5.12/sitebin
which is *NOT* where people expect to find programs.
And it's NOT a directory people want to maintain in
their $PATH.

It looks like all normal Perl scripts, including software
installed from CPAN, are affected.

This is all due to a configuration change with MacPort's perl,
and there's a ticket about this
   https://trac.macports.org/ticket/36980
The reason for the configuration change
is to achieve the noble goal of being able
to install multiple versions of Perl, and
multiple versions of software running under
those Perls.  With the minor cost that
_nothing_ runs.

I've tried, on the above ticket, to suggest
that the approach used may not be the best one;
or at any rate, please tell me a workaround.
I only got a vague answer about symlinks
(which doesn't really solve much).

And finally someone suggests that this mailing
list is a better place to ask or report bugs
than the bug tracker.

Soooo:
   What is the suggested way to install perl scripts
under Macports?  How should I modify my Makefile.PL?

Thanks;
bruce