could not execute "perl -MCPAN -e shell" to install necessary modules.
resolved to copy the necessary files from a working system:
scp -pr Net/ root@swiffer1:/usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.8/
scp -pr SendMail.pm root@swiffer1:/usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.8/
scp -pr Mail/ root@swiffer1:/usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.8/
scp -pr LWP/ root@swiffer1:/usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.8/
scp -pr HTTP/ root@swiffer1:/usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.8/
and everything worked just dandy.
